Hidden Lives ― True Stories from People Who Live With Mental Illness

An evocative collection that illuminates life for those directly affected by mental illness—both the sufferers and their family members—and endeavours to lift the stigma that exists around it.

More than 57 million Americans suffer from a diagnosable mental illness, and yet there are still considerable stigmas and a great deal of misunderstanding surrounding even the most common diagnoses?schizophrenia, biopolar disorder, autism, obsessive-compulsive disorder, clinical depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and dissociative identity disorder.

This groundbreaking collection of personal essays written by sufferers or their family members aims to break down those biases and stigmas. Rather than analyze the diagnoses and symptoms, these first-hand accounts focus on the very essence of a psycho-emotional breakdown, and respond to the mental, physical, and emotional turmoil it inevitably causes. What does a mother do when her teenager son's personality suddenly fractures, creating five new people? How does a police officer cope when his employer refuses to provide adequate care until he can prove his PTSD is work-related? How do children grow up under the care of a manic father whose illness lands him in and out of medical and social incarceration?

Raw, honest, and painful, these essays communicate disappointment and despair, but also courage and compassion. They are a lifeline for sufferers, and a strong shoulder for their friends and family, and they are a step towards changing the attitudes that plague mental illness

With a foreword by respected physician, bestselling author, and renowned speaker Dr. Gabor Maté, Hidden Lives gives readers a place to turn, and suffers a platform to share their struggle.

Lenore Rowntree's writing has appeared in several Canadian literary journals, and her poetry was included in the anthology Best Canadian Poetry 2010. She was shortlisted for a CBC Literary Award in 2009 for an essay written about her sister's childhood schizophrenia.

Andrew Boden's articles on mental illness have appeared in Open Minds Quarterly and Other Voices. His short story "Confluence of Spoors" was published in the 2010 Journey Prize anthology. He writes about his brother's schizophrenia.

Dr. Gabor Mate is a bestselling author and renowned speaker who presented a TEDx talk in Rio. For years he worked closely with patients challenged by hard-core drug addiction, mental illness and HIV, and is now a co-founder of Compassion for Addiction, a new non-profit organization.