"What's Your Drive for Writing a Book?

I recently starting working with a ghostwriter on a book I'm hoping to publish about our family's journey of mental illness, as well as the stories of other families in a similar situation. I've been so fortunate at the response I've received from those willing to share their stories. One mom who has a grown daughter around my age with bipolar asked me what's driving me to write a book and continue my blog. Below was my response:

"I’m almost 45 and wasn’t diagnosed with bipolar until I was 34. Our generation didn’t have the information we now have. I started experiencing symptoms in my teen years then it was in full force by the time I was in my twenties. I got some relief at 25 after my dad prescribed me Paxil for my anxiety and depression. But it wasn’t until nine years later that I was accurately diagnosed.

I have many reasons for wanting to write the book and it wasn’t until just recently that I felt I had the energy and focus to move forward on it. My daughter is 13 now and went to residential treatment last summer, first at Farm Home in Corvallis and then at Kairos in Grants Pass. Kairos was amazing and I believe has turned her life around. Before she went, we were in despair and fearful that, down the road, she would either end up seriously hurting or killing herself or someone else. Chloe was diagnosed with bipolar and ADHD when she was six-years-old by a pediatric psychiatrist in Medford. It took five more years to find a cocktail of medications that somewhat stabilized her where she wasn’t pulling knives or bats on her sister or neighbor kids or throwing objects across the room breaking things. After her mood was more stabilized, the damage to her self-esteem and coping skills had been done. We were lost and so was she. She had been surviving for so long with such highly dysfunctional coping skills that she didn’t know how to change or what that even looked like. So, it became a self-loathing and self-perpetuating cycle of anxiety, depression, lower self-esteem and so on. We didn’t know where to begin and we needed help and guidance. We felt it was necessary to send her to residential treatment.

Now that she’s been home five months and doing very, very well, I have a tremendous driving need to help others that are in similar situations and educate those who will listen about the facts and reality of mental illness. I want to start talking about it more so we can start minimizing the stigma and shame associated with it. I want others to know that they’re not alone and there are resources. If we can keep sharing and connecting, the knowledge and resources will grow and the stigma will diminish. I want to share my journey and others’ stories to learn from each other and start creating solutions. What has been so frustrating and miserable for me and my husband during this process is how little support and guidance there is. And how misinformation and ignorance breed reactive, dysfunctional systems in our government, schools, judicial bodies and health care. Just Wednesday, I spoke with another mother who had to hire an attorney to sue her school district for not providing her mentally ill daughter the supports the law requires. We did the exact same thing two years ago. Different school districts but same dysfunction of hiding information from parents and lying about what they are legally required to do. My family and this other woman had the financial resources to take this step. This was a miserable time for us. How many other families are out there in the same boat but can’t afford an attorney, much less have the time and emotional energy to deal with an attorney or a delinquent child. Then people wonder why these kids get in trouble or do drugs or, worse, kill a campus of elementary children or university students.

I guess I just feel like if we can keep creating awareness and sharing information, maybe at some point, mental illness will start getting some resources to make some systemic changes. And with my writing and marketing background, I have the knowledge and tools to move it forward. I’m just starting with baby steps and will keep moving forward to see where it takes me." J

I am still looking for families who are willing to share their stories of youth mental illness. If you or someone you know is willing to share, please message me on Facebook. You may remain anonymous.