Nothing to Hide: Mental Illness in the Family

Rating:
Summary: Essential Reading
Review: Nothing to Hide is one of the most important books I've read. As an advocate for people with mental illnesses ('consumers'), and one myself, I believe this book is an essential tool for understanding mental illness: The firsthand experience, how it affects families and friends, the battles for justice and against stigma, and consumers' pervasive courage, humor and grace in the face of despair. Who to speak better about these issues than those directly affected?

The book profiles 44 families of every race, age, size, and background, from all over the U.S. The splendid black and white photos by Gigi Kaeser portray smiling, laughing, playful families. This lightens the mood, and book highlights the families' dignity. All pictured family members talk about their experiences. I am blessed to know several of the families portrayed, and their stories are enlightening and inspiring, but I feel that I know all of the others, as well.

There's so much wisdom in these pages. Consumers detail the struggles and losses of mental illness, but they face it with heroic dignity and strength. The book is not a 'sob story' collection - it doesn't take pity on consumers, which they don't want. More importantly, the book dispels the age-old, tired stigmas surrounding mental illness: that those with it are lazy, violent, and/or stupid.

Family members talk openly of frustration, grief, and moments of love and triumph. Different families deal with mental illness in different ways. Many initially deny the illness, some place blame, and some suffer guilt. Most stand by their loved ones and fight for them. In today's dismal health care system, the families are often on the front lines of advocacy.

The families in this book truly have Nothing to Hide. Beard, Gillespie, and Kaiser have created a powerful document - a treasury and a tool for understanding mental illnesses and becoming a more tolerant society. I cannot recommend it highly enough.