Reveals proven solutions for bettering the lives of people with serious mental illness, their families, and their communities. Leading scientist and gifted storyteller Rachel A. Pruchno, PhD, was shocked to encounter misinformation, ignorance, and intolerance when she sought to help her daughter, newly diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Turning to the scientific literature, Dr. Pruchno eventually found solutions, but she realized many others would need help to understand the highly technical writing and conflicting findings. In Beyond Madness—part memoir, part history, and part empathetic guide—Dr. Pruchno draws on her decades as a mental health professional, her own family's experiences with mental illness, and extensive interviews with people with serious mental illness to discuss how individuals live with these illnesses, including bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and major depression. The book • presents real-world vignettes that vividly describe what it is like to experience some of the most troubling symptoms of a severe mental illness • offers practical advice for how individuals, family members, and communities can help people with a serious mental illness • explains how people with mental illness can find competent health care providers, identify treatment regimens, overcome obstacles to treatment, cope with stigma, and make decisions • provides insight into programs, such as Crisis Intervention Training, that can help people undergoing mental health crisis avoid jail and get the treatment they need • takes aim at the popular concept of "rock bottom" and reveals why this is such a harmful and simplistic approach • advocates for evidence-based care • documents examples of communities that have embraced successful strategies for promoting recovery • shows that people with serious mental illnesses can live productive lives Meticulously researched and engagingly written, Beyond Madness is a call to action and a promise of hope for everyone who cares about and interacts with the millions of people who have serious mental illness. Family members, friends, teachers, police, primary care doctors, and clergy—people who recognize that something is wrong but don't know how to help—will find the book's practical advice invaluable.

Neither Jessica Stout nor her father, Walter Horak, set out to publish this book, both authors wishing foremost and forevermore that there had never been a reason. Yet love for a little boy compelled them. FEEL ME BRAVE began as a blog by Jessica to keep her family and friends abreast of her young son's struggle with an incurable disease. But the power of her prose-unflinchingly honest, piercingly insightful, and on occasion startlingly humorous-settled deeply into the hearts of people following Ryland Stout's journey. Caught up in the same struggle, Walter began to write poetry as he groped for a way to express a grief that tormented his entire family, even as each day brought them closer to that inevitable moment of parting. Over time, the idea took hold to merge the words of father and daughter into unique, shared testimony. And readers urged that it find a wide audience, especially those facing serious life challenges or simply contemplating its difficult mysteries. The result is this remarkable book, a "treasure" in Dr. Ira Byock's estimation. Heartbreaking and uplifting in equal measure, FEEL ME BRAVE invites you to open your own heart and to dwell a while within those deep places that make us all more fully human.

This daring and thought-provoking chronicle encourages readers, both the healthy and the unhealthy, to become open, honest, and courageous in dealing with the sensitive issues surrounding a life invaded by chronic illness.

Patrick J. Kennedy, the former congressman and youngest child of Senator Ted Kennedy, opens up about his personal and political battle with mental illness and addiction for the first time. This candid memoir focuses on the years from his 'coming out' about suffering from bipolar disorder and addiction to the present day, and examines his journey toward recovery while reflecting on America's treatment of mental health.

Learn to live a rich, vital, and meaningful life despite Lyme disease or chronic illness.

Experience one womans remarkable story of how she overcame disabling chronic illness and how you can too! Beginning in ancient Budapest, then travelling through the jungles of modern American medicine, Mary Henderson describes her unpredictable journey and ultimate success, going from a wheelchair to wonderful health. Along the way, she guides readers in formulating a plan for their own physical, spiritual, and emotional improvement. This book is both a personal account and a workbook for those struggling with many types of life-defining illness.