Martin Powell
Patrick J. Kennedy, Stephen Fried
ISBNs: 0593471768, 0593471784, 9780593471760, 9780593471784, 9780593471760, 9780593471784
English | 2024 | PDF
Profiles in Mental Health Courage portrays the dramatic
journeys of a diverse group of Americans who have struggled with their
mental health. This book offers deeply compelling stories about the
bravery and resilience of those living with a variety of mental
illnesses and addictions.
Several years ago, Patrick
J. Kennedy shared the story of his personal and family challenges with
mental illness and addiction—and the nation’s—in his bestselling memoir,
A Common Struggle. Now, he and his Common Struggle
coauthor, award-winning healthcare journalist Stephen Fried, have
crafted this powerful new book sharing the untold stories of others—a
special group who agreed to talk about their illnesses, treatments, and
struggles for the first time.
When Kennedy’s uncle, President John F. Kennedy, published his classic book Profiles in Courage, he hoped to inspire “political courage” by telling the stories of brave U.S. senators who changed America.
In Profiles in Mental Health Courage,
former Congressman Kennedy adapts his uncle’s idea to inspire the
“mental health courage” it takes for those with these conditions to
treat their illnesses, and risk telling their stories to help America
face its crisis in our families, our workplaces, our jails, and on our
streets. The resounding silence surrounding these illnesses remains
persistent, and this book takes an unflinching look at the experience of
mental illness and addiction that inspires profound connection,
empathy, and action.
In this book, you’ll meet people of all
ages, backgrounds, and futures, across politics and government,
Hollywood and the arts, tech and business, sports and science—some
recovering, some relapsing, some just barely holding on, but all sharing
experiences and insights we need to better understand. You’ll also meet
those trying to help them through—parents, siblings, spouses,
therapists, bosses, doctors, and friends who create the extended
families needed to support care and wellness.
The personal
stories they share with Kennedy and Fried are intimate, sometimes
shocking, always revealing. And they are essential reading for
caregivers, family members, policymakers, and the general public—just as
they are for those who often feel alone in experiencing these
challenges themselves.