A book developed for youth who have a brother or sister with a mental illness. In addition to helping children and youth understand key information about common mental illnesses, "Could My Sibling Have A Mental Illness?" also addresses common questions and concerns had by siblings and provides siblings with strategies for looking after their own mental health, communicating with their parents and sibling, and seeking help when needed.

As it explores the nature of illnesses such as schizophrenia, major depression, and manic depression, this definitive guide for those affected by mental illness in the family provides the tools to overcome the devastating effects of growing up in a family where they exist. A list of resources is included.

When Margaret Moorman's older sister, Sally, was first hospitalized with schizophrenia in 1959, her family denied the truth to neighbors, friends -- and even themselves. Not until thirty years later, when their mother's death made her Sally's sole caretaker, did Margaret face the truth. Now, in this poignant memoir, she tells the brave story of her struggle to come to grips with the legacy of her sister's devastating disease and its effect on her own life and on her entire family. Margaret reveals her fears that she too would become ill and her ambivalence about having a family of her own. She writes about the difficulties of assuming the responsibility for Sally's care while trying to manage her own career, relationships, and the birth of her first child. And she tells how she and Sally finally learned to negotiate their relationship and accept each other. Candid, moving, and ultimately healing, My Sister's Keeper is a heartwarming story about two sisters and their love for each other. Hallmark has presented My Sister's Keeper as a film starring Kathy Bates, Elizabeth Perkins, and Lynn Redgrave. Book jacket.

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB PICK • ONE OF GQ's TOP 50 BOOKS OF LITERARY JOURNALISM IN THE 21st CENTURY • The heartrending story of a midcentury American family with twelve children, six of them diagnosed with schizophrenia, that became science's great hope in the quest to understand the disease. "Reads like a medical detective journey and sheds light on a topic so many of us face: mental illness." —Oprah Winfrey Don and Mimi Galvin seemed to be living the American dream. After World War II, Don's work with the Air Force brought them to Colorado, where their twelve children perfectly spanned the baby boom: the oldest born in 1945, the youngest in 1965. In those years, there was an established script for a family like the Galvins--aspiration, hard work, upward mobility, domestic harmony--and they worked hard to play their parts. But behind the scenes was a different story: psychological breakdown, sudden shocking violence, hidden abuse. By the mid-1970s, six of the ten Galvin boys, one after another, were diagnosed as schizophrenic. How could all this happen to one family? What took place inside the house on Hidden Valley Road was so extraordinary that the Galvins became one of the first families to be studied by the National Institute of Mental Health. Their story offers a shadow history of the science of schizophrenia, from the era of institutionalization, lobotomy, and the schizophrenogenic mother to the search for genetic markers for the disease, always amid profound disagreements about the nature of the illness itself. And unbeknownst to the Galvins, samples of their DNA informed decades of genetic research that continues today, offering paths to treatment, prediction, and even eradication of the disease for future generations. With clarity and compassion, bestselling and award-winning author Robert Kolker uncovers one family's unforgettable legacy of suffering, love, and hope.

When the "Boston Globe first published Clea Simon's cover story on growing up with her two schizophrenic siblings, the response was overwhelming. "Healthy" siblings constitute that silent majority of people who have grown up in dysfunctional families and, largely due to their age have often stood on the sidelines as the tragic consequences of a mental disorder claimed either the health or life of a brother or sister. For Clea Simon, the experience was shattering as first her beloved, older brother Daniel, the brilliant Harvard freshman started hearing voices and dropping out of school when his schizophrenia made functioning impossible. And then again as the same illness claimed her sister Althea, who has bounced around from one state institution to another after her parents eventually gave up on helping the daughter who refused their help. The issues "well" siblings face run the gamut from guilt (why do I deserve to be OK?), fear (what are the chances that I have this disease, or that my children may inherit it?), to the burden of caring for a sibling (am I my brother's keeper?), and overcompensating in the family, or its converse, acting destructively to get attention. In talking to hundreds of other siblings and experts in the field, Simon has written a comprehensive book that combines the best of memoir writing with the kind of practical advice that should ease the pain of any brother or sister who has felt helpless in the face of a sibling's mental illness.

'My Brother/Sister Has a Mental Illness, But I Don't Know What That Means.' is an educational resource specifically designed for young adults aged 17-22 who have a brother or sister living with a mental illness.The 'My Brother/Sister Has a Mental Illness, But I Don't Know What That Means' has collected advice, questions and wisdom from young adults who have a sibling with a mental illness and packaged it together in an easy-to-understand booklet. This informative guide helps readers better understand mental disorders, helps to bust mental illness myths, provides insights on recovery and treatment options, and gives tips for coping and dealing with emotional responses. "As all family members are affected by a loved one's mental illness, "My Brother/Sister Has a Mental Illness, But I Don't Know What That Means" is a remarkable and valuable resource in addressing the concerns and questions siblings have about mental illness and their relationship to their family member living with mental illness. It presents a clear message in assuring siblings that they are not to blame, the situation is not hopeless, and to focus on the person not the illness."~ Chris Summerville, Schizophrenia Society of Canada