I’ve seen and experienced the many ways mental illness has snaked its way through my family history.

It’s looked like a lot of things: drug use, alcoholism, overeating, undereating, moodiness, withdrawal from life…  But it all comes down to the same thing—mental illness.

I’ve made distraught phone calls full of sobbing to a parent. I’ve received quiet phone calls with too few words from a parent. I’ve spent nights crying until sleep comes, and nights not sleeping at all. I’ve feared for the life of a family member. I’ve overheard vague mentions of distant relatives who’ve been in institutions, who’ve died of alcoholism, who’ve ‘whatevered’ long ago in the past. Mostly, the scar of mental illness on my family has been in the shape of a big question mark surrounded by shame and withdrawal. 

But for me, it’s also been an answer.

Continue reading at The Three Magazine.