The Price of Silence: A Mom’s Perspective on Mental Illness

“Accidental advocate” Long, whose blog post “I Am Adam Lanza’s Mother” went viral, expands on her ideas for improving the lives of mentally ill children and their families. Long emphasizes that people with mental illness are generally not violent, and that cultural stigma and fear leads to treating mental illness differently than physical ailments, which can lead to shame, isolation, and even suicide. Long highlights problems in the education and mental health systems, such as limited financial resources, difficulty obtaining diagnoses, and policies that do not allow intervention until a problem has occurred, which gives rise to a “school-to-prison pipeline.” The judicial system is often the only way to ensure the safety of family members and the public and provides the mentally ill with access to services. She prescribes earlier interventions, community-based care, whole-family approaches to juvenile justice, and integrated education. Although Long uses her child, who has bipolar disorder and is sometimes violent, as an example throughout, the book is more of a policy opinion piece than a memoir. However, she effectively reminds readers that the people most affected by the treatment of mentally-ill children should have a voice, and that including even the most difficult members of our society in the discussion is a first step. (Aug.)