Overview

I heard he was just diagnosed with a mental illness. Can you believe that? The speaker is laughing so hard she can hardly get the words out. That sure explains a lot. Oh my God, I think to myself. They could be laughing about my mother. In some ways things have not changed over the past thirty years. These women have absolutely no clue how hard it is on those suffering from mental illness or on those wrapped up in the lives of the mentally ill. No wonder I kept my story a secret. To be honest, I feel a little vulnerable sharing it now, but it's time. I wonder how many of us are confronted with this insensitivity day after day. I know firsthand how hard it is to cope with this disease. I spent my childhood loving a mother who suffered from bipolar disorder and who at times lived with it untreated. Her illness not only compromised her life, it compromised her family members' lives as well. This book is designed to help us understand the world of mental illness, challenge and transform the suffer in silence dynamic, and make mental illness more understood, treated and accepted.

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9780988826274

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Reviews

Michelle Dickinson-Moravek should be commended for candidly sharing her life story, in order to make a difference for others. Through her efforts, she is playing a major role in reducing stigma about mental illness and raising awareness about why there should not be stigma about brain disorders, thereby helping to facilitate treatment and care for those who need it. -Husseini K Manji, MD, FRCPC Global Head, Neuroscience. Janssen Pharmaceuticals Mental illness is far more common than we realize - one in four of us will experience a diagnosable mental condition at some point in our lives, from depression, anxiety and addiction to bipolar and schizophrenia. And yet we struggle in silence because of the stigma. By breaking into her own life, Michelle helps the rest of us break out of our destructive isolation. The truth is we know what works in treating most mental illnesses, if only we can open up and get the help we need. Michelle's story helps remove the stigma so that more people seek and receive the care they deserve without fear or shame. -Craig Kramer, Mental Health Ambassador and Chair of the Global Campaign on Mental Health, Johnson & Johnson Michelle Dickinson-Moravek's Breaking Into My Life is as painfully revealing as it is uplifting. In her brutally candid memoir, Michelle relives what it was like to grow up as the child of a bipolar mother, and how that experience continued to compromise her adulthood years later. Her efforts to ultimately claim the life she wanted rather than simply coming to terms with the life she had will hopefully inspire many others to do the same. -Linden Gross, bestselling writer & writing coach, owner of One Stop Writing Shop, LLC

Author Information

Michelle Dickinson-Moravek, an associate director at Johnson & Johnson, has been in the pharmaceutical industry for over 18 years. Having grown up with a bipolar mother, she has spent her life grappling with impact of mental health issues and caregiving. Writing this book helped her break into her own life at long last.

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