Family Skeletons: A Web of Mental Illness

by Elayne Gilliam

Overview

Following the loss of her husband to ALS, a mother struggles to raise four children alone, and discovers her eldest son and daughter suffer from mental illnesses. She describes her interactions with various public agencies; social, medical and judicial. As she cares for an alcoholic, paranoid schizophrenic son, and a daughter with personality disorder which culminates in suicide, she examines memories from her childhood in a dysfunctional family. She discovers a genetic closet with mental illness, alcoholism, and deviant behavior. Following a fourth marriage, she finds peace, but at the price of letting go of her mentally ill son.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798893898712
Publisher:	Arpress
Publication date:	06/16/2021
Pages:	148
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.32(d)

About the Author

At forty, I was a widow raising four children, a first time college student in my third marriage, and facing diagnosis of mental illness for a son and a daughter who eventually commits suicide. I confront my childhood memories from a dysfunctional family, and discover family secrets and a genetic disposition to alcoholism and mental illness. Following the death of another spouse, I remarry but have to let go of my mentally ill son. My story is for all who face the unexpected, unplanned, and challenges in life. Th is is my family story, skeletons from my closet.