Overview

Despite all her best efforts to break the cycle of catastrophic, destructive patterns of mental illness, Anna Berry found herself at the end of her rope—unemployed, penniless, homeless, and in the throes of a psychotic episode that threatened to destroy her life. Alone and unwell, she manages to find her grip on life, seeks the help she needs, and embarks on a life and career that illustrate that mental illness does not have to be ruinous. Unhinged: A Memoir of Enduring, Surviving, and Overcoming Family Mental Illness is a powerful memoir that chronicles Berry’s life as both a casualty and survivor of family mental illness. From her point of rock-bottom to her own recovery, as well as her efforts to help her still-afflicted mother and brother find hope and healing, we see how she struggles to recognize her own illness while coping with the fallout from her family’s other victims. In telling her story, Berry uncovers the difficulties inherent in not only growing up with mental illness among family members, but also the frustrations of not being able to recognize or handle the trajectory of her own illness. Yet, after successfully finding methods of treating her symptoms, Berry goes on to become a successful journalist and author, who now helps educate the public about mental health through her writing, while also serving as her mother’s court-appointed legal guardian. This story shows the devastating impact of mental illness on whole families, but offers readers a message of hope and healing. Berry’s story is sure to resonate with the many people who deal with the mental illness of family members, and their own struggles to cope with their own diagnoses.

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9781442233621

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Reviews

This is a moving, incisive memoir of intra-familial mental illness, personal recovery, and recommended treatment paradigms when multiple family members are afflicted. -- Harriet P. Lefley, Ph.D., Professor Emerita of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL Anna Berry's gripping, poignant account of her own and her family's struggle with mental illness is both harrowing and uplifting. This is a brave story of resiliency in the face of the debilitating effects of mental illness, and [Berry is] living proof that recovery is not just a dream, but a reality. -- Kim T. Mueser, executive director, Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation, Boston University; author of The Complete Family Guide to Schizophrenia: Helping Your Loved One Get the Most Out of Life

This is a moving, incisive memoir of intra-familial mental illness, personal recovery, and recommended treatment paradigms when multiple family members are afflicted. -- Harriet P. Lefley, Ph.D., Professor Emerita of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL

Berry recounts years spent combatting mental illness, her own as well as her family's, in this uneven memoir. While Berry demonstrates her awareness of how difficult it is to diagnose mental illness and the present state of care in the U.S. for those afflicted, her personal stories of her own family's struggle lack empathy. Her palpable resentment of both her mother's and her brother's manipulative natures undermines her goal of shedding light on the destructive-and involuntary-nature of living with mental illness. The family drama is enthralling, yet very little of it imparts compassion or understanding. It also becomes clear that Berry regularly falls in with people who treat her poorly: the men she dates, the friends she keeps, and the psychiatrists she sees are vicious and cruel, to the point of caricature. Unfortunately, she rarely reflects on her own actual thoughts or circumstances, save for seeing them as a generalized black hole of frustration. Berry's account of dealing with mental illness doesn't answer much about the experience of psychotic breaks, but it does reveal the cruel ways people treat one another. Publishers Weekly This is a moving, incisive memoir of intra-familial mental illness, personal recovery, and recommended treatment paradigms when multiple family members are afflicted. -- Harriet P. Lefley, Ph.D., Professor Emerita of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL Anna Berry's gripping, poignant account of her own and her family's struggle with mental illness is both harrowing and uplifting. This is a brave story of resiliency in the face of the debilitating effects of mental illness, and [Berry is] living proof that recovery is not just a dream, but a reality. -- Kim T. Mueser, executive director, Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation, Boston University; author of The Complete Family Guide to Schizophrenia: Helping Your Loved One Get the Most Out of Life

Author Information

Anna Berry is the pen name of a successful journalist, mental-health advocate, and author from the Midwest. With more than 17 years’ experience as a professional journalist, writer, and editor, her work has appeared in multiple major media outlets, including the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Reader, the Washington Post, and multiple national magazines, such as New Art Examiner, Dialogue, and DailyWorth.com. In addition to her work as a journalist, Berry has also spent a number of years as a researcher, special-purpose reporter, and policy analyst in the health care industry. You can visit her book website at annaberryauthor.wordpress.com.  

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