My Parents' Keeper: Adult Children of the Emotionally Disturbed

Rating:
Summary: Right on Point
Review: When you think of a title like Adult Children of the Mentally Ill, you assume that the book is about children of parents who were bipolar, schizophrenic, clinically depressed or whatever. This book, however, is for those raised by a parent who may have been undiagnosed but just not mentally all there, mentally disturbed.

The book hits home because it discusses the main issues that arise from being raised by such a parent/parents, the need to fix people's problems rather than just showing emphathy, an inability to be assertive and express your feelings when something causes you concern, an inability to trust anyone because you couldn't trust your parents, a refusal to take risks, and so on.

The book is right on point. Unfortunately, I don't think the mental health profession has tapped into this area much because this seems to be the only book published on the subject and there don't seem to be many support groups for ACMI. Read this book if your parent was mentally disturbed and you have some of the issues raised. If you go to a therapist with this knowledge in hand, it should help your therapy go quicker.