Well known US psychiatrist and author, E. Fuller Torrey describes the book as "a model for families". Dr. Daniel Kalla says "a must read for families coping with mental illness and an eyeopener for those of us lucky enough not to have been affected."
Susan Inman's daughter had one of the most severe cases of schizoaffective disorder that psychiatrists in Vancouver had ever seen. After a two year psychotic episode, she had a grim prognosis. Some psychiatrists predicted she would have to be institutionalized for life.
Fortunately, Susan's ability to take unpaid leaves of absence and to teach part time enabled her to assume responsibility for her daughter's recovery. Eventually, a new medication strategy freed her daughter, Molly, from a psychosis that she described as a living hell.
Susan said that "I could not find the stories from other parents that would likely have provided some comfort when I was the most overwhelmed. In my memoir, I share the complicated story of helping my daughter get her life back in the hope that it will help others in a similar situation and give them some comfort."
No parent ever wants to see their child develop a chronic medical disability. But, when it is one that is so misunderstood by society as is schizophrenia and the other serious mental illnesses like bipolar disorder or schizoaffective disorder, it is even more traumatic. Imagine how any parent would feel if faced with this situation described in the book:
" We are driving down Main Street to the grocery store when Molly's attention is caught by a
homeless man in the corner of the parking lot who's rearranging the clutter in his shopping cart.
'Will I be getting a shopping cart?'
I park the car and will my voice to be convincingly certain as I take on this assumption that is said with a heartbreaking naivete.
'No, these are sick people who don't have a family to help them'.”
Dr. E Fuller Torrey, a former advisor to the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, the Executive Director of the Stanley Medical Research Foundation and the best selling author of Surviving Schizophrenia said "this is one of the best accounts I have read of serious mental illness as told by a mother." He went on to say that her "attempts to educate herself and her support of her daughter as they wend their way through the schizoaffective maze provide a model for other families. Highly recommended"
Dr. Stephanie Engel, a Harvard psychiatrist stated that this is "a much needed book about her experience as a mother..."
Dr. P Jane Milliken at the University of Victoria in BC states that "Susan's story is inspirational"
Dr. Jehannnine C.S. Austin of the Department of Psychiatry and Medical Genetics at the University of British Columbia adds that this book is "important reading for both family members and mental health professionals alike".
Renea Mohammed, of the Peer Support Program at Vancouver Community Mental Health Services points out that Ms Inman's book "demonstrates very aptly the difference that family can make and the importance of having a mental health system that works with them."
In his introduction to the book Senator Michael Kirby, Chair of the Mental Health Commission of Canada, talks about "the work we still have to do to ensure that people with mental illness and their families get the same treatment....that individuals with physical illness receive.”
The work to be done is immense. It is just beginning........
After Her Brain Broke: Helping My Daughter Recover Her Sanity, is published by Bridgeross Communications. ISBN 978-0-9810037-8-8 and is distributed by Ingram Books. The book is available from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Chapters/Indigo and in a Kindle format.
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