Awards

• Commended for Books for a Better Life (First Book) 2005

Overview

On March 11, 2001, seventeen-year-old Will ingested a near-fatal dose of his antidepressant medication, an event that would forever change his life and the lives of his family. In Will's Choice, his mother, Gail Griffith, tells the story of her family's struggle to renew Will's interest in life and to regain their equilibrium in the aftermath. Griffith intersperses her own finely wrought prose with dozens of letters and journal entries from family and friends, including many from Will himself. A memoir with a social conscience, Will's Choice lays bare the social and political challenges that American families face in combating this most mysterious and stigmatized of illnesses. In Gail Griffith, depressed teens have found themselves a formidable advocate, and in the evocative and fiercely compelling narrative of Will's Choice, we all discover the promise of a second chance.

Full Product Details

9780060598662

Table of Contents

Reviews

Powerful prose...Griffith educates and empathizes. With the story of Will's choice--life--she gives hope to families in crisis. --Washington Post Book World This is a book about the struggle to supplement love with wisdom in the face of great pain. --Andrew Solomon, author of The Noonday Demon Ground-breaking...If this book serves as a wake-up call, it is truly one that could save lives.--Judith Guest, author of Ordinary People Perceptive and instructive...a valuable document in the fight for better health care for our mentally ill children. --Paul Raeburn, author of Acquainted with the Night Painfully honest...heartrending...a plea to society to recognize that depression is a serious but treatable illness. --Publishers Weekly A comfort and resource for people of any age struggling out of that pitch-dark place of the soul. --Washingtonian Magazine A heartbreaking and hopeful account that highlights a public health crisis in dire need of attention. --Albuquerque Journal A look inside the minds of a patient and his family, and...an excellent teaching tool for clinicians. --Psychiatric News Griffith's stirring prose is supplemented by...useful and possibly life-saving advice for parents...a powerful personal story. --Library Journal (starred review) Gripping, grueling and entrancing...A knowledgeable guide's revelatory report on a disturbing phenomenon. --Kirkus Reviews A courageous and unflinching chronicle .... A beautifully written handbook of help and hope. --Emmylou Harris

A courageous and unflinching chronicle .... A beautifully written handbook of help and hope. --Emmylou Harris

Griffith's stirring prose is supplemented by...useful and possibly life-saving advice for parents...a powerful personal story. -- Library Journal (starred review)

Ground-breaking...If this book serves as a wake-up call, it is truly one that could save lives.--Judith Guest, author of Ordinary People Perceptive and instructive...a valuable document in the fight for better health care for our mentally ill children. --Paul Raeburn, author of Acquainted with the Night A heartbreaking and hopeful account that highlights a public health crisis in dire need of attention. --Albuquerque Journal A look inside the minds of a patient and his family, and...an excellent teaching tool for clinicians. --Psychiatric News A courageous and unflinching chronicle .... A beautifully written handbook of help and hope. --Emmylou Harris Powerful prose...Griffith educates and empathizes. With the story of Will's choice--life--she gives hope to families in crisis. --Washington Post Book World This is a book about the struggle to supplement love with wisdom in the face of great pain. --Andrew Solomon, author of The Noonday Demon Painfully honest...heartrending...a plea to society to recognize that depression is a serious but treatable illness. --Publishers Weekly A comfort and resource for people of any age struggling out of that pitch-dark place of the soul. --Washingtonian Magazine Griffith's stirring prose is supplemented by...useful and possibly life-saving advice for parents...a powerful personal story. --Library Journal (starred review) Gripping, grueling and entrancing...A knowledgeable guide's revelatory report on a disturbing phenomenon. --Kirkus Reviews A heartbreaking and hopeful account that highlights a public health crisis in dire need of attention. --Albuquerque Journal Painfully honest...heartrending...a plea to society to recognize that depression is a serious but treatable illness. --Publishers Weekly This is a book about the struggle to supplement love with wisdom in the face of great pain. --Andrew Solomon, author of The Noonday Demon A look inside the minds of a patient and his family, and...an excellent teaching tool for clinicians. --Psychiatric News A courageous and unflinching chronicle .... A beautifully written handbook of help and hope. --Emmylou Harris A comfort and resource for people of any age struggling out of that pitch-dark place of the soul. --Washingtonian Magazine Gripping, grueling and entrancing...A knowledgeable guide s revelatory report on a disturbing phenomenon. --Kirkus Reviews Griffith s stirring prose is supplemented by...useful and possibly life-saving advice for parents...a powerful personal story. --Library Journal (starred review) Ground-breaking...If this book serves as a wake-up call, it is truly one that could save lives.--Judith Guest, author of Ordinary People Perceptive and instructive...a valuable document in the fight for better health care for our mentally ill children. --Paul Raeburn, author of Acquainted with the Night Powerful prose...Griffith educates and empathizes. With the story of Will s choice life she gives hope to families in crisis. --Washington Post Book World

Author Information

Gail Griffith has spent most of her career as a coordinator, fundraiser, and advocate for international humanitarian programs. She is a member of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill and has served as the patient representative to the Food and Drug Administration's advisory committee on possible links between antidepressant medication and suicidal thinking in teenagers. She lives in Washington, D.C.

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