Best of
Mental-Illness

2013

Lighter than My Shadow


Katie Green - 2013
    She'd sit at the table in silent protest, hide uneaten toast in her bedroom, listen to parental threats that she'd have to eat it for breakfast.But in any life a set of circumstance can collide, and normal behavior might soon shade into something sinister, something deadly.Lighter Than My Shadow is a hand-drawn story of struggle and recovery, a trip into the black heart of a taboo illness, an exposure of those who are so weak as to prey on the vulnerable, and an inspiration to anybody who believes in the human power to endure towards happiness.

Call Me Crazy


Quinn Loftis - 2013
    It must be a one-way mirror because no one seems to be able to see back inside to where I am. The looks on their faces, the judgment in their eyes, tells me everything I need to know. The most frustrating part about the whole messed up situation is that even though I’m the one that they stare at in shock, I am just as shocked as they are. I know no more than they do of why I lose control. What they don’t know is that I am more scared of myself than they could ever be.” ~ Tally Baker After a devastating turn of events, seventeen year old Tally Baker is admitted to Mercy Psychiatric Facility where she is diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder. She has come to a place where she honestly believes that her life is over. Her mind tells her that she will never smile or laugh again, that she will never be normal again. It is in this unlikely place that she meets two people, different in every way, yet both critical to helping her realize that she has so much more living to do. Candy, a cantankerous sixty year old Mercy Psychiatric patient, is hell bent on driving everyone as crazy as she is. Candy shows Tally that, regardless of her diagnosis, the ability to push on and live her life to the fullest is her choice and hers alone. In the midst of Tally’s oftentimes humorous, sometimes heart-wrenching, escapades with Candy, a new patient is admitted to Mercy—a Native American woman named Lolotea. Along with this new patient comes a daily visitor, her son, Trey Swift. At first glance, it is obvious to Tally that he is incredibly handsome and unbelievably caring. But what she learns through her second glance, and many thereafter, is that there is much more to Trey than he ever lets on. It is during these daily visits that Trey and Tally build a friendship far deeper than either of them truly realize. With Trey, Tally feels for the first time since being admitted that someone is looking at her as a person and not as a disease. Trey begins to make it clear that he wants more than friendship, but she knows that she can never give him more. How can she, when she won’t even give him the truth? Tally doesn’t tell Trey that she is a patient at Mercy, and she doesn’t ever plan to. Her plans go up in flames when she finds out that Trey is a new student at her school, the school where her brokenness was found out in the floor of the girl’s bathroom in a pool of her own blood.

Warmth in Ice


A. Meredith Walters - 2013
    12 Bestselling Authors. November 2013***********It’s Maggie and Clay’s first Christmas together…***Spoilers for those who have not read Find You in the Dark or Light in the Shadows***Clay and Maggie have gone through the dark and come out on the other side. For the first time, they are on this journey together. Fighting for something they both need and can’t live without…each other.But a long distance relationship is hard. Particularly for two people who are still trying to build something solid on a shaky and troubled foundation. Clay is finally out of treatment and is living in an out patient halfway house. He struggles with what he wants to do and where he wants to go. Questions he worries he will never have the answers to. Maggie is trying to transition into college life and learning how to create a future with someone who is over a thousand miles away.As the months pass and they struggle with being a part, old insecurities and fears take root and threaten a love that has come so far.When Maggie decides to fly to Florida as a surprise for Clay on Christmas, she is unsure whether it will be the first step toward what they both desperately want or whether it could possibly be the end of it all.But with the holidays approaching, Maggie and Clay are reminded that even when the days are coldest, you can still find the warmth and that hope and love are the greatest gifts of all.

Stop Caretaking the Borderline or Narcissist: How to End the Drama and Get on with Life


Margalis Fjelstad - 2013
    Often they appear to be normally functioning at work and in public interactions, and Narcissists may even be highly effective, in the short term, in some work or social situations. However, in intimate relationships, they can be emotional, aggressive, demeaning, illogical, paranoid, accusing, and controlling--in the extreme. Their ability to function normally or pleasantly can suddenly change in an instant, like flipping a switch. These negative behaviors don't happen once in a while, they happen almost continuously in their intimate relationships and most often, and especially with their Caretaker family member.Here, Margalis Fjelstad describes how people get into a Caretaker role with a Borderline or Narcissist, and how they can get out. Caretakers give up their sense of self to become who and what the Borderline or Narcissist needs them to be. This compromises the Caretaker's self-esteem, distorts their thinking processes, and locks them into a Victim-Persecutor-Rescuer pattern with the Borderline or Narcissist. The book looks at the underlying rules and expectations in these relationships and shows Caretaker's how to move themselves out of these rigid interactions and into a healthier, more productive, and positive lifestyle--with or without the Borderline/Narcissistic partner or family member. It describes how to get out of destructive interactions with the Borderline or Narcissist and how to take new, more effective actions to focus on personal wants, needs, and life goals while allowing the Borderline or Narcissist to take care of themselves. It presents a realistic, yet compassionate, attitude toward the self-destructive nature of these relationships, and gives real life examples of how individuals have let go of their Caretaker behaviors with creative and effective solutions.--Elayne Savage, PhD, relationship and workplace coach; professional speaker; author of Don't Take It Personally! The Art of Dealing with Rejection and Breathing Room - Creating Space to Be a Couple

Glitterland


Alexis Hall - 2013
     Once the golden boy of the English literary scene, now a clinically depressed writer of pulp crime fiction, Ash Winters has given up on love, hope, happiness, and — most of all — himself. He lives his life between the cycles of his illness, haunted by the ghosts of other people’s expectations. Then a chance encounter at a stag party throws him into the arms of Essex boy Darian Taylor, an aspiring model who lives in a world of hair gel, fake tans, and fashion shows. By his own admission, Darian isn’t the crispest lettuce in the fridge, but he cooks a mean cottage pie and makes Ash laugh, reminding him of what it’s like to step beyond the boundaries of anxiety. But Ash has been living in his own shadow for so long that he can’t see past the glitter to the light. Can a man who doesn’t trust himself ever trust in happiness? And how can a man who doesn’t believe in happiness ever fight for his own?

Letting Ana Go


Anonymous - 2013
    But below the surface, she felt like she could never be good enough. Like she could never live up to the expectations that surrounded her. Like she couldn’t do anything to make a change.But there was one thing she could control completely: how much she ate. The less she ate, the better—stronger—she felt.But it’s a dangerous game, and there is such a thing as going too far…Her innermost thoughts and feelings are chronicled in the diary she left behind.

Madness: a Memoir


Kate Richards - 2013
    It never apologises. Sometimes it is a shadow, ever present, without regard for the sun. Sometimes it is a well of dark water with no bottom, or a levitation device to the stars.Madness, a memoir is an insight into what it's like to live with psychosis over a period of ten years, in which bouts of acute illness are interspersed with periods of sanity. The world is beautiful and terrifying and sometimes magical. The sanctity of life is at times precious and at times precarious and always fragile. It's a story of learning to manage illness with courage and creativity, of achieving balance and living well. It is for everyone now living within the world of madness, for everyone touched by this world, and for everyone seeking to further his or her understanding of it, whether you think of madness as a biological illness of the brain or an understandable part of the continuum of the human condition.

Gray


Pete Wentz - 2013
    Tomorrow you will wake up in downtown Somewhere. It doesn’t matter. All the skylines look the same. Time is only marked by events. The world is on a first-name basis with you.But you…you barely even know yourself. There are those who give in completely to the idea of what it means to be famous. And those who can’t ever seem to leave the past behind. Life is a deep and contemplative story stuck on repeat—love, loss, self-destruction, self-discovery.If you could go back to the way things were before you made it…would everything still be gray?

The Mindfulness Workbook for OCD: A Guide to Overcoming Obsessions and Compulsions Using Mindfulness and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy


Jon Hershfield - 2013
    You may even feel like a prisoner, trapped with your intrusive thoughts.Despite the fact that OCD can have a devastating impact on a person’s life, getting real help can be a challenge. If you have tried medications without success, it might be time to explore further treatment options. You should know that mindfulness-based approaches have been proven-effective in treating OCD and anxiety disorders. They involve developing an awareness and acceptance of the unwanted thoughts, feelings, and urges that are at the heart of OCD.Combining mindfulness practices with cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), The Mindfulness Workbook for OCD offers practical and accessible tools for managing the unwanted thoughts and compulsive urges that are associated with OCD. With this workbook, you will develop present-moment awareness, learn to challenge your own distorted thinking, and stop treating thoughts as threats and feelings as facts.

Survival Songs


Meggie C. Royer - 2013
    See ourselves in graves. But still we read our horoscopes."Survival Songs is a rerelease of Meggie Royer's first collection of poems, which was a finalist in the GoodReads Choice Awards for the Best Poetry Book of 2013. This edition includes new work, including Royer's most popular poem, "The Morning After I Killed Myself." Royer's debut contains the lonely hunger that exists in the rest of her work and is as powerful as it was when it was first released. Meggie Royer is an artist from the Midwest. She is the founder of literary magazine Persephone’s Daughters and has had poems in Words Dance, The Harpoon Review, and more. In 2013, she won the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards’ gold medal for poetry and the silver medal for her writing portfolio. She was also an Honorable Mention recipient of the 2015 Academy of American Poets Student Poetry Prize.

Mindfulness for Borderline Personality Disorder: Relieve Your Suffering Using the Core Skill of Dialectical Behavior Therapy


Blaise A. Aguirre - 2013
    BPD can be especially difficult to treat, though there are ways to gain control over your symptoms and live a happier, healthier life.Expanding on the core skill of dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), Mindfulness for Borderline Personality Disorder will help you target and successfully manage many of the familiar symptoms of BPD. Inside, you will learn the basics of mindfulness through specific exercises, and will gain powerful insight through real-life stories from people who have BPD. If you are ready to take that first step on the path toward wellness, this book will be your guide.

Her


Felicia Johnson - 2013
    Kristen loves her family. She works hard academically, and tries to please her mother. She takes on the additional responsibility of caring for her twin siblings, Nick and Alison. She idealizes her best friend, Lexus, who not only seems to lead the perfect life, but also catches the attention of John, the boy Kristen secretly loves. However, as is the case with many teenagers, Kristen feels frustrated, isolated, and confused.In other ways, Kristen is not like other kids her age. She knows something is wrong with her. Kristen feels like an utter failure. She is unable to please her abrasive mother, and scared to confront Jack, her abusive stepfather. She is also unable to protect Nick from Jack, making her fell all the more helpless. Adding to her problems, she knows she will never be as beautiful as her best friend Lexus. Kristen finds solace in self-injury, and the company of Mr. Sharp, her imaginary friend who encourages her feelings of self-loathing.After a failed suicide attempt, Kristen is placed in the Bent Creek mental hospital, where she is diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder. While in the hospital, she meets a group of peers suffering with their own mental illnesses, and a compassionate staff of doctors and counselors. From there, Kristen begins her journey to survival. She discovers the circumstances that brought her to this breaking point, struggles to understand her mental illness, and fights to be a survivor against her own worst enemy: her self-blame.Kristen’s tale of endurance illustrates the complex illness of Borderline Personality Disorder. Readers – including those suffering from BPD and their friends and family – can glean insight into the illness from Kristen’s humanity. Her story is an example of how, if we try to push the past away, we are either doomed to repeat it or let it haunt us to our graves.

In the Stillness


Andrea Randall - 2013
    Staying present is only possible when you let go of the past. But, what if the past won't let go?

Pretty Girl-13


Liz Coley - 2013
    Angie has no memory of the past three years, years in which she was lost to the authorities, lost to her family and friends, lost even to herself. Where has she been, who has been living her life, and what is hiding behind the terrible blankness? There are secrets you can’t even tell yourself.With a tremendous amount of courage and support from unexpected friends, Angie embarks on a journey into the darkest corners of her mind. As she unearths more and more about her past, she discovers a terrifying secret and must decide: when you remember things you wish you could forget, do you destroy the people responsible, or is there another way to feel whole again?Liz Coley’s alarming and fascinating psychological mystery is a disturbing—and ultimately empowering—page turner about accepting our whole selves, and the healing power of courage, hope, and love.

Learning from the Voices in My Head


Eleanor Longden - 2013
    Diagnosed with schizophrenia and checked into a psychiatric ward, Longden spent years trapped in a nightmare of hospitals and medications, pain and despair. Yet she survived. Her technique: to learn to listen to her internal narrators, not reject them. Now on the cusp of finishing her Ph.D. in psychology, Longden still hears voices — and she says she wouldn’t live without them.Part personal memoir and part medical argument, Learning from the Voices in My Head challenges society’s definition of crazy. Longden calls for a new, nuanced understanding of voice hearing and urges us to see madness not as a condition, but as a process — one through which those who struggle with mental health issues have the chance to emerge with their sanity intact. Longden’s story shows that there is, in the end, a message in the madness.

Rainfall


Melissa Delport - 2013
    Paige fights her depression and pulls herself out of the dark place that she has succumbed to, with monumental effort and a new-found determination to live her life to the fullest, doing things that both terrify and exhilarate her.When Paige meets Adam, the attraction is instantaneous. Adam grew up in an orphanage and has no recollection of his life before the age of six. Paige falls head over heels in love and embraces a happiness she never dreamed possible. Until the day she finds Adam in bed with another woman.Wanting nothing more to do with him, Paige cuts Adam out of her life, until she receives a mysterious visitor, who reveals secrets about Adam's past that shock Paige to her very core.Determined to fight for the man that she loves, Paige finds herself on a journey that will change her life forever.

Please Will Someone Help Me?


Sophie Young - 2013
    Sophie was routinely neglected and harmed, starved and left to fend for herself. Social workers were often involved but, despite numerous visits and extensive reports, nothing was ever done.When Sophie was six, her life took another horrible turn: her adored grandfather began to sexually abuse her.Please Will Someone Help Me? is Sophie Young's heartbreaking story about a young girl at the mercy of the adult world. With full access to her social work files, she shows how those who are meant to help children can be blind to the reality of their lives; but how, ultimately, love conquers all.Sophie Young was the eldest of three, born into a dysfunctional family that she fought for years to escape. Now forty years old, she lives in England with her husband and children, and works as a volunteer for a national children's charity.

Cracked: Why Psychiatry is Doing More Harm Than Good


James Davies - 2013
    That’s what psychiatry tells us. But many – even most – will not actually be mentally ill. Thanks to pseudo-science and corporate greed, psychiatry is letting us down. Why is psychiatry such big business? Why are so many psychiatric drugs prescribed – 47 million antidepressant prescriptions in the UK alone each year – and why, without solid scientific justification, has the number of mental disorders risen from 106 in 1952 to 374 today? The everyday sufferings and setbacks of life are now ‘medicalised’ into illnesses that require treatment – usually with highly profitable drugs. Psychological therapist James Davies uses his insider knowledge to illustrate for a general readership how psychiatry has put riches and medical status above patients’ well-being.The charge sheet is damning: negative drug trials routinely buried; antidepressants that work no better than placebos; research regularly manipulated to produce positive results; doctors, seduced by huge pharmaceutical rewards, creating more disorders and prescribing more pills; and ethical, scientific and treatment flaws unscrupulously concealed by mass-marketing. Cracked reveals for the first time the true human cost of an industry that, in the name of helping others, has actually been helping itself.

Healing Old Wounds With New Stitches


Meggie C. Royer - 2013
    Healing Old Wounds With New Stitches is the second book of poetry by Meggie Royer, poet behind the blog "WritingsforWinter."This book is broken into two parts, the first about grief, loss, and pain, the second about recovery and survival.

The Merciful Scar


Rebecca St. James - 2013
    But mercy begs her to remember.When she was in high school, a terrible accident fractured her family, and the only relief Kirsten could find was carving tiny lines into her skin, burying her pain in her flesh. The pain she caused herself was neat and manageable compared to the emotional pain that raged inside.She was coping. Or so she thought.But then, eight years later, on the night she expects her long-time boyfriend to propose, Kirsten learns he’s been secretly seeing her best friend. Desperate to escape her feelings, she reaches for the one thing that gives her a sense of control in the midst of chaos.But this time the cut isn’t so tiny, and it lands her in the psych hospital. Within hours of being there she knows she can’t stay—she isn’t crazy, after all. But she can’t go back to the life she knew before either.So when her pastor mentions a treatment program on a working ranch, Kirsten decides to take him up on the offer and get away from it all. But the one thing she can’t escape is herself—and her shame.The ranch is home to a motley crew, each with a lesson to teach. Ever so slowly, Kirsten opens herself to embrace healing—even the scarred places that hurt the most. Mercy begs her to remember the past . . . showing her there’s nothing that cannot be redeemed.“[St. James and Rue] tackle a tough topic with sensitivity and forthrightness in an intense novel about self-injury, self-esteem, and the numerous shades of love. Highly recommended.” —Library Journal, starred review

Troubled Minds: Mental Illness and the Church's Mission


Amy Simpson - 2013
    It doesn't reduce nicely to simple solutions and happy outcomes. So instead, too often we reduce people who are mentally ill to caricatures and ghosts, and simply pretend they don't exist. They do exist, however -- statistics suggest that one in four people suffer from some kind of mental illness. And then there's their friends and family members, who bear their own scars and anxious thoughts, and who see no safe place to talk about the impact of mental illness on their lives and their loved ones. Many of these people are sitting in churches week after week, suffering in stigmatized silence. In Troubled Minds Amy Simpson, whose family knows the trauma and bewilderment of mental illness, reminds us that people with mental illness are our neighbors and our brothers and sisters in Christ, and she shows us the path to loving them well and becoming a church that loves God with whole hearts and whole souls, with the strength we have and with minds that are whole as well as minds that are troubled.

500 Tips for Fat Girls


Mary Lambert - 2013
    '500 tips for fat girls' is a moving and strikingly original exploration of body image, abuse, and queer love.Cover art by Crystal Barbre Printed by United Reprographics

AnguiSH


Lila Felix - 2013
    Scarred doesn’t begin to define his hell since finding out his girlfriend had cheated, stolen, and lied two years ago. It led to a single event—one that would blacken his days and his nights from then on. Since then, he hasn’t left his house, crippled by fear of people and any social interaction.Ashland talks too much and has the voice of a meth-laden prairie dog, or so she’s always been told. She’s been called annoying and irritating all of her life and gave up on having friends for a long time. College has given her a new lease on a social life and she’s embraced who she is. But now she’s waiting for the one guy who can take her breath away and put up with her antics. A simple note pinned to a corkboard will lead Ash right to Breaker’s solitary world and she will learn that just because a guy doesn’t fit her ideal, doesn’t mean she won’t fall head over feet in love.

Hidden Child


Nicole Colville - 2013
    He is four when he begins to understand that his mummy isn’t like other mummies, and people treat him differently for being her son.See the world through the words of a child, a painful and confused heartbroken child who doesn’t understand why his mummy changes so suddenly; he doesn’t understand where good mummy goes or why bad mummy comes to stay. All he knows is that his mummy loves him, she doesn’t want to hurt him, she wants to protect him. But when protection turns to obsession Jamie isn’t safe.Split between two separated parents in different countries and stuck in the middle of a messy legal battle for custody, Jamie is torn between his love for both his Mummy and Daddy.

A Disability of the Soul: An Ethnography of Schizophrenia and Mental Illness in Contemporary Japan


Karen Nakamura - 2013
    

Pieces of Me


Carrigan Richards - 2013
    Seventeen-year-old Corinne has everything. Her life. Family. Friends. Boyfriend. But in that one second, she loses it all. Now she's left with harrowing nightmares. Hallucinations. And panic attacks that seem to come out of nowhere. She tries everything to take the pain away, but there's only one option she sees as a true way out. When Corinne is sent to live in a psychiatric institution, she doesn't want to talk. It's pointless. They can't help her. But slowly Corinne opens up and wants to remember what it's like to be happy so she begins reliving her past life to her doctor. She knows she can't live in the past, but she sees no future and is faced with the hardest decision of her life.

INK: Sketches


Bella Roccaforte - 2013
    Shay's life was moving along with all the normal hassles and hazards of your typical twenty year old. Then everything changes when her twin sister is possessed by the Specter and kills herself. We get insight as to why Shay is the way that she is, why she's making the mistakes that she's making and what lead to all of the main players to react the way they have when the Specter starts to take control of everything. INK: Fine Lines (Book 1) should be read first. Then this book can be read at any point after that.

Inheritance


Balli Kaur Jaswal - 2013
    Although her absence is brief, she returns as a different person.Over two decades, as Singapore’s political, social and cultural landscapes change, the family’s attempts to cope with the shifts—those coming from outside and from within—lead to some disastrous consequences. With the traditional expectations of their country on the one hand, and their own volition on the other, Amrit’s family must avoid imploding. How do we confront our legacies, and, when necessary, how do we accept change? Inheritance is a universal story of family, identity and belonging.

Letting Go


Carrie Lange - 2013
    As he watches the consequences of his suicide he meets Tar, a benevolent spirit who tries to help him let go of his life on Earth and move on to 'real Heaven'. A dark, tormented spirit is drawn to Dan's fiancée, Anne, as she struggles with her grief and guilt, becoming her constant companion. Dan hopes that with Tar's help, he can find a way to save Anne and her three-year-old daughter from the shadowy spirit. However, things aren't always what they seem with spirits, and Dan begins to wonder who it truly haunts.All proceeds donated to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline:1-800-273-8255 www.suicidepreventionlifeline.orgLetting Go is like ‘The Five People You Meet in Heaven’ told from both sides of Heaven, ‘The Lovely Bones’ meets ‘A Grief Observed’. It’s a character-driven narrative exploration of grief, mental illness, suicide, regret, and letting go of things that cannot be changed. An emotion fueled drama which will make you cry, and sometimes laugh (or at least chuckle on the inside).This story will touch the heart of all those who have struggled with forgiveness and letting go of things that cannot be changed. It will also provide comfort to the victims of suicide, who often suffer silently with their guilt and shame, and to anyone who has experienced profound grief, or depression. It is the author’s hope that this book will save lives by giving pause to someone who is contemplating suicide, if only long enough for them to reach out for the help they need.

Cracked, Not Broken: Surviving and Thriving After a Suicide Attempt


Kevin Hines - 2013
    Yet, for author Kevin Hines the bridge is not merely a marker of a place or a time. Instead, the bridge marks the beginning of his remarkable story. At 19 years old, Kevin attempted to take his own life by jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge - a distance which took four seconds to fall. Recently diagnosed with bi-polar disorder, Kevin had begun to hear voices telling him he had to die, and days before his attempt, he began to believe them. The fall would break his body, but not his spirit. His story chronicles the extraordinary will of the author to live mentally well in the face of his mental illness: bipolar disorder with psychotic features. With each mental breakdown, however, the author's desire to live mentally well-- and to be a mental health advocate-- pulls him from the depths of his condition. Kevin's story is a remarkable testament to the strength of the human spirit and a reminder to us to love the life we have. His story also reminds us that living mentally well takes time, endurance, hard work, and support. With these disciplines in place, those living with even very difficult diagnoses can achieve better lives for themselves and those who help to support and care for them.

Good Kings Bad Kings


Susan Nussbaum - 2013
    Nussbaum crafts a multifaceted portrait of a way of life hidden from most of us. In this isolated place on Chicago's South Side, friendships are forged, trust is built, and love affairs begin. It's in these alliances that the residents of this neglected community ultimately find the strength to bond together, resist their mistreatment, and finally fight back. And in the process, each is transformed.

Playing With Anxiety: Casey's Guide for Teens and Kids


R. Reid Wilson - 2013
    Casey, the fourteen year old narrator of Playing with Anxiety: Casey’s Guide for Teens and Kids, knows all too well how worry can interrupt fun, ruin school, and take control of a family. In this companion book to Reid Wilson and Lynn Lyons’ parenting book, Anxious Kids, Anxious Parents: 7 Ways to Stop the Worry Cycle and Raise Courageous & Independent Children (HCI Books, 2013), Casey shares her own experiences and those of her friends to teach kids and teens the strategies to handle the normal worries of growing as well as the more powerful tricks of anxiety. With pluck and humor, Casey tells stories, offers exercises, and describes her “solving the puzzle” approach that kids and their parents can use to address all types of worries and fears.

Sister Psychopath


Maggie James - 2013
    Now she can’t bear to be in the same room as her.Megan believes Chloe is a psychopath and her sister does appear to be a textbook case: cold, cruel and lacking in empathy. Why does Chloe want to taunt Megan at every opportunity? And why does she persist in manipulating their mentally ill mother, Tilly?When Tilly, under Chloe’s malignant influence, becomes dangerously unstable, the consequences are ugly. Megan’s world falls apart. Her sister’s out of control and there’s little she can do about it. Until Chloe’s actions threaten the safety of Megan’s former lover. A man from whom she has kept an important secret…A study of sibling rivalry and dysfunctional relationships, Sister, Psychopath tells the story of one woman’s struggle to survive the damage inflicted by her own flesh and blood.

Facing the Darkness


Cat Treadwell - 2013
    Utilising Pagan spiritual imagery, skills and perspectives, a combination of inspirational text and easy exercises work with images and stories to distract and encourage for short-term relief and long-term healing.From the apparent hopelessness of deep night through to the inevitable return of sunrise, Nature imagery, tales of mythology and Deity combine in accessible meditations, activities and anecdotes to remind the reader that they are not alone on their path through the darkness.Cat acts as a guide through the forest, working with the Druid skills of Bardic tales and Ovatic land/spirit connection. Darkness and despair can lead to peace and inspiration… through the simple bravery of stepping forward.‘Facing the Darkness’ contains beautiful original artwork by Emma Hotchkin, as well as many individual tales of quiet heroism experienced every day.‘This is a book for those times when you are literally on your knees and the screaming inside your head is so loud that its either going to come out, or tear you apart. And for those times when you are numb to the marrow of your bones and the despair is so overwhelming that you can see no way to keep going. There’s very little that can help a person in those places, as you will know if you’ve been there or tried to help someone going through that kind of deep depression. Cat Treadwell has written a book that faces the torment head on, and offers words of support and insight to help a person not be destroyed by what is happening to them. A brave, raw and potent piece of writing, from someone who knows that the dark nights cannot be magically banished, but that they can be survived.’ – Nimue Brown, Author of ‘Druidry & the Ancestors’‘It takes a certain special something for words in a book to reach you through a tar-pit of depression – the words in this book have that something. Cat shares her own experience and that of others simply and sensitively, offering insights and suggestions in small doses which have helped sufferers to hold on when it is hardest to do so. Some books expect a lot from you – this one accepts you where you are, as you are, offering perspective and a safe place to be when you’re vulnerable. If the best in us comes out when we are tested, maybe these words will guide you to the best in you.’ - Paul C. Newman, Bard & Storyteller‘This rather ‘counter cultural’ little book (and by that, counter to the current ‘light’ obsessed perfection-driven and success-oriented western spirituality culture) is profoundly honest and filled to the edges with the gritty wisdom of one who’s not avoided the pain-filled way. It’s a book to be read slowly and mindfully. The exercises are practical and quietly powerful if given adequate time. As one also prone to the black clouds, I was grateful for the immediate sense of solidarity and support.’ - Mark Townsend, Author of ‘Jesus Through Pagan Eyes’‘For anyone facing their dark night of the soul, Cat’s lyrical and painfully honest account is a guiding light. Cat’s tale of her own difficulties is moving, poignant and powerful. There is vulnerability here and a delicious inspirational quality that serves to lend a helping hand through the forests of depression and anguish.’ – Kristoffer Hughes, Head of the Anglesey Druid Order and author of ‘From the Cauldron Born’‘A wise, practical and spiritual guide to dealing with depression, with advice from those who have walked the black dog and learned how best to kennel it.’ - Liz Williams, Award-Winning Novelist & Guardian Columnist

The Mess of Me


Chantelle Atkins - 2013
    Lou Carling is 16 and obsessed with getting thinner. Joe is her best friend, and last night they found something they shouldn't have in Joe's older brothers wardrobe. Travis and Leon are shady figures, leading shadier lives, and during one summer Lou and Joe find themselves pulled into the drama, the confusion and the violence. Will Joe go to any lengths to impress his older brothers? Will Lou's obsession with losing weight spiral out of control? Is Marianne, her self-harming friend, really her friend, or an enemy in disguise? And will Lou and Joe ever be more than just best friends?

Internal Family Systems Therapy: New Dimensions


Martha Sweezy - 2013
    Internal Family Systems Therapy builds on Richard Schwartz's foundational introductory texts, illustrating how the IFS protocol can be applied to a variety of therapy modalities and patient populations.Each chapter provides clear, practical guidance and clinical illustrations. While addressing questions from therapists who are exploring the model or wonder about its applicability, Internal Family Systems Therapy is also essential reading for knowledgeable IFS clinicians.

Living with Voices: 50 Stories of Recovery


Marius Romme - 2013
    Must-read book for all concerned with mental health issues.

Sure Signs of Crazy


Karen Harrington - 2013
    While most of her friends obsess over Harry Potter, she spends her time writing letters to Atticus Finch. She collects trouble words in her diary. Her best friend is a plant. And she's never known her mother, who left when Sarah was two. Since then, Sarah and her dad have moved from one small Texas town to another, and not one has felt like home. Everything changes when Sarah launches an investigation into her family's Big Secret. She makes unexpected new friends and has her first real crush, and instead of a "typical boring Sarah Nelson summer," this one might just turn out to be extraordinary.

Mad Matters: A Critical Reader for Canadian Mad Studies


Brenda A. LeFrançois - 2013
    The 'mad,' the oppressed, the ex-inmates of society's asylums are coming together and speaking for themselves."Mad Matters brings together the writings of this vital movement, which has grown explosively in the years since. With contributions from scholars in numerous disciplines, as well as activists and psychiatric survivors, it presents diverse critical voices that convey the lived experiences of the psychiatrized and challenges dominant understandings of "mental illness." The connections between mad activism and other liberation struggles are stressed throughout, making the book a major contribution to the literature on human rights and anti-oppression.

Beloved Demons


C. Anthony Martignetti - 2013
    This collection of memoirs and essays focuses mainly on Martignetti's adult years, and features the pivotal characters of his ever-entertaining personal narrative. From the cascade of memories and emotions triggered by an accidental butterfly killing in "Cocoon Talk," to the homicidal impulses prompted by a visit to his boyhood home in "Sign," from the heartbreaking to the hilarious musings inspired by beloved pets in "Mochajava" and "Dog," and throughout the uncensored sexcapades of "Mad," "The Wild," and "Feast of the Hungry Ghost," Martignetti's colloquial, humorous, and intimate style will keep you riveted, crack you open, enthrall and embrace you with an honesty normally reserved for not even the closest of friends.

Remnants of a Life on Paper: A Mother and Daughter's Struggle with Borderline Personality Disorder


Bea Tusiani - 2013
    Pamela Tusiani's copious journals, moving artwork and poetry provide an intimate glimpse of her battle with a personality she could not control. Intertwined with Pamela's voice, Bea Tusiani tells the story of her daughter's struggle and the roller-coaster effect it had on her family. The two points of view present a unique insight into Pamela's state of mind. Based on Bea's and her husband's notes, taken during conversations with Pamela, her doctors and other healthcare providers, this book allows the reader to live through Pamela's day-to-day ordeal and experience the anxiety, love and fear of her family members. This is not just the story of one vibrant, gifted young woman and her courageous family. It is a real life account of an illness that irreparably changes one's world. It raises questions for family and friends of those plagued by BPD. To whom do you turn? How can you help? What do you do when you can't help? Whom do you trust? Where are the boundaries? How do you keep going? Hopefully, this book will provide some answers. Pamela wrote in her diary, "There I stood, in a hole, deep in the ground. Did I dig it or just get in? Did I fall into it? Did someone else dig it and throw me in?" The hole is still there, but through the telling of her valiant endeavor, Pamela extends a hand to help others climb out. Remnants penetrates the heart. To read it, is truly inspirational.

The Ex-Wife


Candice Dow - 2013
    . . THE EX-WIFE She's the hottest relationship expert around. Her get-real advice and tough-world experience have earned Ayana Blue money, fame, and a successful life she never imagined. And handsome Realtor Cameron Small is the sexy, steady Mr. Right she wasn't looking for yet always hoped she'd find. But Cam's unstable, in-denial ex-wife, Yasmin, isn't about to let him go-or allow anyone else take "her place." And if that means wrecking everything Ayana has worked so hard to build, then so be it. Now with her peace of mind shattered, her private business in the hole, and her reputation on the line, Ayana needs to figure out fast which dreams she can save, and what she'll have to let go. When it comes down to the ex-wife v. the next-wife, the only thing guaranteed is a scorched-earth battle-and it's winner takes all . . .

Heavy Hangs the Head


Taryn Hipp - 2013
    It is the story of one woman's journey from anxiety-ridden child to delinquent teenager to divorced alcoholic. This is the story of how she turned all those years of experiences into a beautiful existence.

The Family Guide to Mental Health Care


Lloyd I. Sederer - 2013
    It spares no sex, race, age, ethnicity, or income level. And left untreated, mental disorders can devastate our families and communities. Family members and friends are often the first to realize when someone has a problem, but it is hard to know how to help or where to turn. Our mental health “system” can feel like a bewildering and frustrating maze. How can you tell that someone has a mental illness? What are the first and best steps for you to take? Where do you go to find the right care?The Family Guide to Mental Health Care is the first comprehensive print resource for the millions of people who have loved ones suffering from some kind of mental illness. In this book, families can find the answers to their most urgent questions. What medications are helpful and are some as dangerous as I think? Is there a way to navigate privacy laws so I can discuss my adult daughter’s treatment with her doctor? Is my teenager experiencing typical adolescent distress or an illness? From understanding depression, bipolar illness and anxiety to eating and traumatic disorders, schizophrenia, and much more, readers will learn what to do and how to help.Real-life scenarios and authoritative information are written in a compassionate, reader-friendly way, including checklists to bring to a doctor’s appointment so you can ask the right questions. For readers who fear they will never see the light at the end of the tunnel, this book gives hope and a path forward.As one of the nation’s leading voices on quality care in mental health, Dr. Lloyd Sederer has played a singular role in advancing services for those with mental illness. Now, the wealth of his expertise and clear guidance is at your disposal. From the first signs of a problem to sorting through the variety of treatment options, you and your family will be able to walk into a doctor’s office know what to do and what to ask.

The Tarnished Shooter


Charles James - 2013
    A young boy named Frank goes through life looking on the bright side, while his father does everything in his power to destroy the boys spirit. This is a compelling story about the long term consequences of childhood trauma and abuse.

Me and Him: A Guide to Recovery


Karen Tyrrell - 2013
    

What She Left Behind


Ellen Marie Wiseman - 2013
    Devastated by her mother’s apparent insanity, Izzy, now seventeen, refuses to visit her in prison. But her new foster parents, employees at a local museum, have enlisted Izzy’s help in cataloging items at a long-shuttered state asylum. There, amid piles of abandoned belongings, Izzy discovers a stack of unopened letters, a decades old journal, and a window into her own past.Clara Cartwright, eighteen years old in 1929, is caught between her overbearing parents and her love for an Italian immigrant. Furious when she rejects an arranged marriage, Clara’s father sends her to a genteel home for nervous invalids. But when his fortune is lost in the stock market crash, he can no longer afford her care—and Clara is committed to the public asylum.Even as Izzy deals with the challenges of yet another new beginning, Clara’s story keeps drawing her into the past. If Clara was never really mentally ill, could something else explain her own mother’s violent act? Piecing together Clara’s fate compels Izzy to re-examine her own choices—with shocking and unexpected results.Illuminating and provocative, WHAT SHE LEFT BEHIND is a masterful novel about the yearning to belong—and the mysteries that can belie even the most ordinary life.

Please eat...: A mother's struggle to free her teenage son from anorexia


Bev Mattocks - 2013
    But then food-loving Ben began to systematically starve himself. At the same time his urge to exercise became extreme. In a matter of months Ben lost one quarter of his bodyweight as he plunged into anorexia nervosa, an illness that threatened to destroy him. Please eat… A mother’s struggle to free her teenage son from anorexia is his mother’s heart-breaking yet inspirational account of how she watched helplessly as her son transformed into someone she didn’t recognise, physically and mentally. It also describes how, with the help of his parents and therapist, and through his own determination, Ben slowly began to recover and re-build his life.

The Misconception: A Spirit Guide, A Ghost Tiger, and One Scary Mother!


Ceri Carpenter - 2013
    Some of them are still only partially developed and others are working, but she doesn't know how to use them yet.Her biggest problems for the moment is finding a Teacher who can show her how to use them properly. Another is that she doesn't know anyone who knows anything about Supernatural powers.In fact, her mother is violently against the Supernatural, as was her mother before her.The only people who seem willing to help her are dead, not that that makes any difference to Megan. She embraces their help with open arms

When Your Adult Child Breaks Your Heart: Coping with Mental Illness, Substance Abuse, and the Problems That Tear Families Apart


Joel L. Young - 2013
    This parent may initially react with the bad news of their adult child behaving badly with, "Oh no!" followed by, "How can I help to fix this?" A very common third reaction is the thought, "Where did I go wrong--was it something I said or did, or that I failed to do when my child was growing up that caused these issues? Is this really somehow all my fault?" These parents then open their homes, their pocketbooks, their hearts, and their futures to "saving" their adult child--who may go on to leave them financially and emotionally broken.  Sometimes these families also raise the children their adult children leave behind: 1.6 million grandparents in the U.S. are in this situation.       This helpful book presents families with quotations and scenarios from real suffering parents (who are not identified), practical advice, and tested strategies for coping. It also discusses the fact that parents of adult children may themselves need therapy and medications, especially antidepressants. The book is written in a clear, reassuring manner by Dr. Joel L. Young, medical director of the Rochester Center for Behavioral Medicine in Rochester Hills, Michigan; with noted medical writer Christine Adamec, author of many books in the field.          In the wake of the Newtown shooting and the viral popularity of the post "I Am Adam Lanza's Mother," America is now taking a fresh look, not only at gun control, but also on how we treat mental illness. Another major issue is our support or stigmatization of those with adult children who are a major risk to their families as well to society itself.  This book is part of that conversation.

When the Bough Breaks: A Memoir about One Family's Struggle with Mental Illness


Denise Brauer - 2013
    She was 45 and otherwise in good health, but plunged into depression so quickly that she slit her own throat before anyone suspected the gravity of the situation. This book is about the year in which the family struggles to find treatments, trying to recover the woman they loved from the abyss of mental illness. When the Bough Breaks, co-authored by the Brauer sisters, is a memoir about the painful year in their adolescence when their mother is diagnosed with manic depression. They are the statistics come to life: research about girls experiencing family problems who are more likely to experience depression, use drugs, experiment with sex, and struggle with eating disorders. Survivors of suicide often feel like this subject is one of the last taboos in our society, and they can feel uncomfortable discussing the loss of a loved one to suicide. This book attempts to breach this divide by sharing one story from the perspective of teenagers who lived through it.

Pros of Prozac: A Faith-based Memoir of Overcoming the Stigma


Beca Mark - 2013
    Beca Mark wished she could have found this book when hopelessly struggling with depression and anxiety after having her first child.She takes you on a heartfelt journey and shares how healing only came when combining a daily Prozac prescription with a commitment to be her best self.By sharing faith-based, personal details about her life, she hopes to soften the cultural stigma surrounding mental illness, shedding a more positive light on these issues.Who could benefit from this book?- Someone taking medication for a mental illness, wanting to know he or she is not alone- Someone suffering from depression or anxiety and considering medication for help- Someone wanting to understand why anyone would ever take a drug like Prozac- Someone about to give birth to a baby

Inbetweenland


Jacks McNamara - 2013
    Mapping out radical trajectories through loss, violence, and queer desire, McNamara creates a luminous archive of survival and resilience in a self-destructing world. A visual artist as well as a writer, the author relies heavily on the unexpected image to chronicle the impossible journey through body, family, and history–towards home. From the borderlands of madness to the unpredictable shape of peace, Inbetweenland bears unflinching witness to a rarely charted geography, offering the reader a resonant poetics of insurrection and grace.

Van Gogh's Inner Struggle: Life, Work and Mental Illness


Liesbeth Heenk - 2013
    The letters vividly show the artist's life was no bed of roses. Whereas Van Gogh perfectly knew what was sellable, he continued to produce what he considered as honest, 'truthful' art, regardless of current taste. He did not expect the art-buying public to understand the rough appearance of his work. Van Gogh acknowledged that being an artist simply involved struggle, but he believed that one would benefit from adversity, both personally and professionally. "No victory without a battle, no battle without suffering." In Van Gogh's case it seems to have been a never ending battle against poverty, isolation and adversity. Given his circumstances - being financially dependent upon his brother Theo, not selling any work, and getting minimal recognition - his achievements are utterly amazing. This is not a book about Van Gogh's art, but about his life as an artist and human being. By reading it, you will appreciate and understand his work even better. "Van Gogh's Inner Struggle" belongs to the series 'Secrets of Van Gogh'.

Svend Robinson: A Life in Politics


Graeme Truelove - 2013
    Over his twenty–five years as a New Democrat MP, Robinson was imprisoned for blocking loggers from clear–cutting in Clayoquot Sound, assaulted by police while protesting at the 2001 Summit of the Americas, expelled from foreign countries for defending human rights, and harassed after coming out as Canada's first openly gay MP. Robinson always took his ideals to the front lines, helping to define the Canadian left.Though his brash tactics dominated headlines, Robinson's full story has not yet been told. In this in–depth biography, Graeme Truelove explores an accomplished life and career, including Robinson's difficult childhood, his growing realization of his own sexuality, and the bipolar diagnosis which followed his baffling, career–ending theft of a diamond ring. A portrait emerges of a complex figure — driven, gifted, visionary and flawed — who challenged his country and continues to make his indelible mark on the world.

The View on the Way Down


Rebecca Wait - 2013
    It is the story of Emma's two brothers – the one who died five years ago and the one who left home on the day of the funeral and has not returned since.It is the story of her parents – who have been keeping the truth from Emma, and each other. It is a story you will want to talk about, and one you will never forget.

The Unbalancing Act


Kristen Lynn - 2013
    No one would ever suspect this always smiling mini-van princess to be on antidepressants, or to have an internal dialogue that makes the f-bomb sound like a nursery rhyme. Overwhelmed and pushed to her limit, Vada finds herself in a mental institution, The New Outlook Center for Mental and Behavioral Health. It is here where she realizes that her maternal instincts do not have an off switch, and her own mental issues may backfire on her in a way that she never could have imagined.

Shaken: A Story of Emotional Abuse and Depression


Kerry Connelly - 2013
    Shaken will prove to be invaluable' -International best selling author Jean SassonInspired by experience, Connelly bravely takes us on a journey into the loneliness and despair of depression while in the midst of an emotionally abusive relationship. Having had anxieties since childhood, nothing was to prepare her for the violent convulsions and hours of un-controllable sobbing that had started to take over her life, as the stress and trauma of psychological abuse manifested itself in the form of major depressive disorder, severe panic disorder and anxiety with Ocd. Shaken is the story of one woman’s journey with deteriorating mental health while under the control of an emotional abuser. It serves to acknowledge that any form of psychological abuse at any severity is unacceptable and shows just how quickly the trauma of such can give birth to a variety of mental health issues. Separated by sections of comprehensive reference and checklist material to inform readers about the signs of emotional abuse and depression, as well as advice for friends as well as sufferers, Shaken digs deep into the heart of a woman who hopes to dispel the ignorance and lack of understanding regarding both issues by using her own experiences as an example. A stark, honest and well written read from the pen of an emotional abuse survivor.* 'Mental and emotional abuse is a problem that more often than not gets swept under the rug for a variety of reasons. Kerry Connelly shakes out that rug in Shaken!* -Reader's Favorite*Highly readable, a very important book that both abusers and the abused should read. Connelly's book will guide the way for the abused to safely leave their abuser, and to heal. If you are being abused, or know someone who is being abused, I recommend that you buy this book. Connelly's SHAKEN will prove to be invaluable' International best selling author JEAN SASSON (Princess: A true story of life behind the veil in Saudi Arabia)

Leave of Absence


Tanya J. Peterson - 2013
    Prepare for your perceptions to be shattered. Penelope Baker grapples with schizophrenia. She has suffered losses, and her grief has deep and numerous shadows. Oliver Graham, utterly bereft, wrestles with guilt. He has suffered losses, and his grief has deep and numerous shadows. Leave of Absence unveils the complexity—and the humanity—underlying psychological struggles. When Oliver Graham’s suicide attempt fails, he is admitted to Airhaven Behavioral Health Center. Unable to cope with the traumatic loss of his beloved wife and son, he finds a single thread of attachment to life in Penelope, a fellow patient wrestling with schizophrenia’s devastating impact on her once happy and successful life. They both struggle to discover a reason to live while Penelope’s fiance William strives to convince her that she is worth loving. As Oliver and Penelope try to achieve emotional stability, face others who have been part of their lives, and function in the “real world,” they discover that human connection may be reason enough to go on. Written with extraordinary perception into the thought processes of those dealing with mental illness, Leave of Absence is perfect for readers seeking an empathic depiction of grief, loss, and schizophrenia. It has a place in the classrooms of counselor-educators, among support groups for those with mental illness and for their caregivers, and in the home of anyone who has ever experienced human suffering and healing.

Boy


Kate Shand - 2013
    An engaging story of unbearable sadness and grief, this searing memoir is also a journey of strength and courage. Ultimately, it is the story of a boy like any other and of a mother’s survival in the aftermath of the suicide of her child.

Beautiful Girls


Melissa Lee-Houghton - 2013
    The reader has been invited to a sleepover at the asylum, a night in which five-year old girls drift alone through the wards, where the mentally unstable do sit-ups when nobody is watching and where heaven is a place between “the sky and the planets” reserved for those with personality disorders. This collection will be a home-to-home for sufferers and a journey through terrible night for those who’ve been fortunate enough to take the non-scenic route in life. Melissa Lee-Houghton significantly moves us on from any romanticising notion of the ‘mad’ poet driven through suffering to achieve their full genius. Mental suffering is here shown in all its nocturnal and diurnal detail: the nurses, the drugs, the lack of sleep; the disconnect from the yearned-for true self. Beautiful Girls will survive as a testament to poetry’s force in overcoming.” – Chris McCabe

Don Drummond: The Genius and Tragedy of the World's Greatest Trombonist


Heather Augustyn - 2013
    In his short life Don Drummond created an enduring legacy despite poverty, class separation, mental illness, racial politics, and the exploitation of his work. The words of Drummond's childhood friends, classmates, musicians, medical staff, legal counsel, and teachers enliven this story of his unusual mind. They recall the early days in the recording studio, playing the instrumental backup for Bob Marley and others, and the nights in the Rasta camps where musicians burned the midnight oil and more. They remember the gyrations of his lover, Margarita, the Rumba Queen, as she tantalized audiences at Club Havana; tell what happened that tragic night when Drummond stabbed Margarita four times; reveal details of the trial (delayed more than a year as Drummond was ruled mentally unfit) and offer insights into Drummond's death in a mental asylum at age 35.

Look Straight Ahead


Elaine M. Will - 2013
    But when he suffers a severe mental breakdown brought on by bullying and other pressures at school, his future is called into question - as is his very existence! Can he survive the experience through the healing power of art? And just what does it mean to be "crazy," anyway?

A Portrait for Toni


Annette Lyon - 2013
    Who else would she be able to vent to about her parents, her job at the dance studio, or her latest relationship woes? When Toni’s father lands in the hospital, Carter, as always, is there for her.That is, until he starts questioning Toni, saying he thinks she has an eating disorder. Then she starts dating Clint, the hot new guy at the studio, and somehow that puts a deeper wedge between her and Carter. When she’s hospitalized after an on-stage collapse, and Carter stupidly starts in with advice about food and weight, she sends him away—then instantly regrets it.One night after a performance, Toni tries to mend the hurt between them. She goes to visit Carter at work, in his art classroom at the high school. She doesn’t see him there, and instead, she stumbles onto proof that he has feelings for her that go way beyond those of a friend. Toni is left with the very real prospect of losing Carter forever, unless somehow she can return his feelings—but that’s impossible.Isn’t it?

Dissected


Megan Bostic - 2013
    She's a thrill seeker with a penchant for extreme sports and a fascination with death. Withdrawn and broody David from English class is the boy of Syd's dreams, but love soon becomes just another extreme sport when Syd finds out that David has cheated on her. Betrayal, loneliness, and a shard of glass set Syd on a course of self-destruction.Will new friends and her love of the stars be enough to pick Syd up from rock bottom and guide her to the path of forgiveness and redemption?

The Arachnean and Other Texts


Fernand Deligny - 2013
    In 1968 Deligny established a “network” for informally taking care of children with autism that was more than a mere site of living: it was a milieu created out of a reflection on the mode of being autistic. What is a space perceived outside of language? What is the form of a movement without perspective or goal? How do we engage with a world that is not our own, a world turned upside down yet truly common, where acting cohabitates with our actions and the unknown with our forms of knowledge? Such is the mythical web of the “Arachnean,” made of lines, holes, traces, enigmas, and questions without answers that demand to see that which cannot be seen. Long before the digital age of social networks, meshworks, and digital webs, Fernand Deligny speaks to us in his own autobiographical and aphoristic manner. For Deligny, his life was always experienced in the form of “the network as a mode of being.”

Will: Stories


Shane Neilson - 2013
    The book ranges from straightforward East Coast depictions of alcoholism and frustrated farming told in dense, lyric prose, to experimental works that play overtly with language and form. In Will, a boy is beaten by his father; another father cares for his epileptic son; an anesthetist addicted to sevoflurane ponders the works of Michael Jackson; Vladimir Nabokov takes a writer-in-residence position at Memorial University of Newfoundland; and World War I poet John McCrae dies. And yes, there is a hockey story. Individual stories have appeared widely in magazines including Queen’s Quarterly, The Malahat Review, Fiddlehead, Geist, and The Canadian Medical Association Journal, among others.

As I disappear...


Annalise Grey - 2013
    My hollow bones sing wild songs of freedom while the tempered hearts of wanting take leave of me."Annalise Grey uses free-verse poetry for two voices in this semi-autobiographical account of eating disorders and the inner turmoil which walks hand-in-hand with self-abuse. Annalise's battle with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder coupled with Bulimia began in childhood. Like the moon, both wax and wane in intensity yet never fully disappear. With brutal honesty and stark imagery, she weaves a tale of struggling with who you are and who you should be.

A Masque of Infamy


Kelly Dessaint - 2013
    After moving from Los Angeles to small town Alabama in 1987, Louis Baudrey tries to fit in at the local high school, but the Bible-thumpers and the rednecks don't take too kindly to his outlandish wardrobe and punk attitude. At home, he defies the sadistic intentions of Rick, his father's friend, who tries to rule the household with an iron fist. As Louis is about to be shipped off to military school, he stumbles upon indisputable proof that will free him and his younger brother from Rick's tyranny. But just when he thinks their troubles are over, they're locked up in the adolescent ward of a mental hospital, where Louis must fight the red tape of the system to save himself, his brother and maybe even his dream of being a punk rocker.

The Kilmer Cure


Lynn Schneider - 2013
    That is a great approach if you want to perform some experiments, or learn words like "psychopharmacology," but doctors are trained to treat patients like their illnesses-like a collection of symptoms. And I have never reacted very well to being treated like that.In 2010, I lost my insurance, forcing me to go off my bipolar medications. To cope, I staged my own private Kilmerfest, burning my way through Val Kilmer's filmography in lieu of lithium. And I wrote The Kilmer Cure, a book about my experience and a manual to bipolar disorder from the patient's point of view, talking about the disease not just as a biological occurrence, but also as a day-to-day experience. I wrote in layman's terms, and to illustrate my points I used examples from Val Kilmer movies, since he was there with me all the way in a way my doctors weren't. This is not a self-help book. This is a field guide.

39


Amanda Green - 2013
    This is the journal of her life during the year following publication. Dysfunctional and ever more inspiring, this memoir will take you into a whirlwind of love, humour, emotion, depression, adventures, music, animals, family health and relationships, as she strives to stay strong and achieve a life really worth living as a childless woman before her fast approaching 40th birthday. Due to flashbacks of dark scenes and sexual abuse, this memoir is for adults only and although it's a sequel, it can easily be read alone.

Walks on the Margins: A Story of Bipolar Illness


Kathy Brandt - 2013
    Bathed in gentle compassion and exuding the most resilient love for her son and family, Kathy’s narrative favors a compelling witness-writing that shows how it feels to be in the circle of those intimately affected by mental illness and in a world beset by institutional failure.Max’s attentive gaze depicts reality through the lens of the artist he is yet to become, unearthing poetry, rhymes and a broad palette of colors in the most sordid of places. With a callous, ruthless self-scrutiny, he retells both his manic and depressive episodes. At times unnerving, the fierce honesty of his prose is ameliorated by humor and a highly visual writing style reminiscent of the vanguard novellas. Max conveys a playful and unsettling beauty that he scratches off the seemly dim surface of day-to-day life. It’s the whiz kid and his vexed mother. His emotional unrest and her unhindered kindness. Mother and son weave their narratives into a single powerful story about coming to terms with bipolar disorder.

The Disordered


Anhvu Buchanan - 2013
    Exploring the conflict from within with clinical assessment and voices that are overcome and overwrought with each disorder, the resulting text becomes not only sympathetic, but often empathetic.

Witness to the Dark: My Daughter's Troubled Times. A Comedy of Emotions.


Bob Larsted - 2013
    But nothing prepares him for the challenge of keeping his daughter Patricia safe after she attempts suicide. This book is a roller coaster ride of ever-changing diagnoses and treatments for anxiety, depression, bipolar, obsessive-compulsive, and schizoaffective disorders. Share Bob’s journey through the minefields of school, family, and today's healthcare system as he struggles to find a way for her to survive, and, ultimately, thrive.Enthralling … Insightful … Heartbreaking … Empowering …

Splitfish


Kiran Millwood Hargrave - 2013
    Kiran Millwood Hargrave's poetry communicates the world in language that is by turns vibrant and strange, ornateand stark. Her third collection, Splitfish is the book where this emerging poet confirms herself as one of the most exciting young voices writing today.

The Art Kids


Kate Spofford - 2013
    That was before the new girl Laney arrives in her art class. Now, instead of good times hanging with her friends, everyone is acting strangely. Paul is angry all the time, Kevin and Jenna aren’t quite the perfect couple anymore, and everyone is ignoring Evan.Sophie knows there's something different about the new girl. Something that seems to be tearing her group of friends apart. When Evan starts dating Laney, it looks like the end of the Art Kids… but maybe Sophie isn’t seeing the whole picture. Something happened last May... something Sophie doesn't want to remember...

Help! Someone I Love Is Depressed: Practical Insights for Those Who Suffer Through Bouts of Depression and Their Families, Friends, Caregivers, and Churches


Greg L. Russ - 2013
    Russ chose to write this book from a patient's point of view. Having suffered five clinical bouts, Russ offers a graphic look inside the dark abyss while chronicling the insights he learned when his depression intersected God's mercy. The book extends an invitation to families, friends, churches and their pastors to become part of the comforting process. Enlightening and encouraging, Help! Someone I Love is Depressed will speak to the church, medical and counseling professionals, military and the general public.

Beautifully Bipolar: An Inspiring Look Into Mental Illness


Erin Callinan - 2013
    Optimistic, honest and passionate account of a young woman's experience with devastatingly impacting Bipolar Disorder over a 13-year period, from the sudden and shocking first episode to a well-managed condition and an abundant life.

A Voice out of Nowhere


Janice Holly Booth - 2013
    What incited him to kill the people he loved? What was in his mind? A Voice out of Nowhere is the true story of a young man's sudden plunge into mental illness where voices and delusions commanded him to do the unthinkable. Drawing from court transcripts, interviews and eye-witness statements, A Voice out of Nowhere takes the reader deep into the mind of a psychotic killer and explores the awful consequences of untreated mental illness.

The Trilogy: Memoirs of Marlayna Glynn Brown


Marlayna Glynn - 2013
    This collection includes three of Glynn Brown's acclaimed memoirs describing her turbulent 1970s Las Vegas childhood, teenage and young adult years in Los Angeles and ultimately successful battles with depression, divorce, single parenting, and ill-fitting love affairs. Purchase this outstanding collection and learn why Glynn Brown's memoirs have been called 'the best memoir ever written,' 'the best suicide prevention tool ever created,' 'an opportunity for self-evaluation and a catharsis for some of my own demons,' and 'what every child of an alcoholic, addicted, and abusive parent needs to read.' Includes: Overlay: A Tale of One Girl's Life in 1970s Las Vegas City of Angeles Big as All Hell And Half of Texas

Drunks & Other Poems of Recovery


John X - 2013
    John X is a pseudonym and is necessary because many of the pieces deal with the poet's personal experiences in Alcoholics Anonymous. He has great respect for AA's anonymity traditions. John X's poem "Drunks" has gone around the world on Recovery websites. Drunks and Other Celebrations of Recovery is a powerful work that can sit on poetry shelves and recovery shelves with equal force.

Mad Science: The Disorders of American Psychiatry


Stuart A. Kirk - 2013
    The authors address multiple paradoxes in American mental health, including the remaking of coercion into scientific psychiatric treatment in the community, the adoption of an unscientific diagnostic system that now controls the distribution of services, and how drug treatments have failed to improve the mental health outcome.

The Narcissist Survival Guide: Everything You Need to Know to Deal with the Narcissists in Your World, ...Without Losing Your Mind


Wendy Jean Powell - 2013
    The word narcissism is being bandied about like a trend right now and it is getting confusing for those of us that actually have a pathological narcissist in our lives. Narcissism is not just another word for arrogant or conceited. You are not a narcissist because you post a lot of things on the web or take a lot of 'selfies'. Narcissism, in the purest sense of the word is a pathology, a dangerous pathology.

Attic of the Mind


Hemmie Martin - 2013
    Twenty-five years have passed since the sadistic abuser tortured the patients of the psychiatric ward, and now Lily has decided he must meet his final judgment. As her plan unfolds she discovers she is not the only one with a dark secret. Now, only time will tell if Lily's demons will be vanquished, and just how many people are really involved.