Embracing the Shadows: Navigating a Family's Mental Illness

Embracing The Shadows is a non-fiction narrative about three different types of mental illness in my family of origin. I asked the question, "Why not me?" along with searching for answers on how these illnesses were related.

I tell of my father's Manic Depression that went unmedicated until Lithium was FDA-approved in 1967 when I was about seventeen years old. I talk about his psychosis, electroshock therapies, and New York Psychiatric Hospitals, with a harrowing story about his stay in the ...