Nothing to Hide: Mental Illness in the Family by Jean J. Beard


Nothing to Hide: Mental Illness in the Family
Title : Nothing to Hide: Mental Illness in the Family
Author :
Rating :
ISBN : 1565847865
ISBN-10 : 9781565847866
Language : English
Format Type : Paperback
Number of Pages : 320
Publication : First published October 1, 2002

One in five Americans has a mental illness. Nothing to Hide , a stunning tribute to the millions of families for whom mental illness is a part of everyday life, juxtaposes first-person accounts with beautifully reproduced duotone photographs of forty-four families who defy the stigma of mental illness to speak for themselves about their lives, their illnesses, and their struggles to get well. Each family in the book is portrayed in two Photographs capture the members together and, often, singly or in pairs. Individual statements―usually one from each person in the family―complete the family picture by telling the story from various points of view. The families, different in many ways, have in common an ongoing struggle with illnesses ranging from schizophrenia and bipolar illness to obsessive compulsive disorder and major depression. These open and candid stories show us that the mentally ill and their families have much in common with the rest of us. They can be found in every community of America, and represent the full range of our economic, racial, and ethnic diversity. Only a small percentage of the mentally ill live with caretakers or in treatment centers. In her foreword, MacArthur Award–winning author and psychologist Kay R. Jamison calculates the enormous costs of stigmatizing the mentally ill. And an introduction by Kenneth Duckworth, medical director for the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health, details our current understanding of mental illness. The book concludes with a moving personal essay by Pulitzer Prize–winning Washington Post journalist David Maraniss.

Nothing to Hide: Mental Illness in the Family Reviews

  • Donna

    It took a long time to fully read this book because there were so many stories here, and I wanted to be able to absorb each one. What I really enjoyed is that it showed people with mental health issues as fully embedded in their families and society, as they truly are. The photographer did an amazing job of showing each family unit as happy, well-adjusted-looking people. Of course they are all people who have had a lot to deal with in their lives, but you cannot pick out who the person with the mental health issue is until you read the interviews of the family members. They are very honest accounts that are inspiring and sometimes heart breaking at the same time. It highlights the commonality of mental health issues, a point brought home when I unexpectedly found a family I knew within its pages. I learned a lot about obsessive compulsive disorder, which I knew nothing about before, and also how often mental health problems show up when individuals are children. It would be useful for anyone working with children as well as in the mental health arena specifically.

  • Palilicium

    Great look at mental illness and it's impact from the inside, as well as from different family members. This book also illustrates the importance of good support.