Helping Someone with Mental Illness: A Compassionate Guide for Family, Friends, and Caregivers
by Rosalynn Carter (with Susan K. Golant), 1998

Reader's Comments

"You're walking out of the doctor's office, stunned. What, a member of my family has mental illness? Where do I turn first? Let me recommend Mrs. Carter's book as a great comfort and source of information."

– TONY RANDALL

The first thing you need to know is that life isn't over. "The good news," writes Mrs. Carter in Helping Someone with Mental Illness, "is that with proper diagnosis and treatment, the overwhelming majority of people with mental illness can now lead productive lives." Based on Mrs. Carter's twenty-five years of advocacy and the latest data from the Rosalynn Carter Symposia for mental illness, her book offers step–by–step information on what to do after the diagnosis: seeking the best treatment; evaluating health-care providers; managing workplace, financial, and legal matters.

"Mrs. Carter says what needs to be said: That mental illnesses are rea1, that they can be diagnosed, and that effective treatments exist. This is a book that will inform and offer hope to individuals and families mho today are grappling with the still grim realities of disabling mental disorders. "

– STEVEN E. HYMAN, M.D., director,

National Institute of Mental Health

Mrs. Carter addresses the latest breakthroughs in understanding, research, and treatment of schizophrenia, depression, manic depression, panic attacks, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and other mental disorders. She also discusses the emotional and psychological issues in caregiving for people with mental illness: coping with the impact on the family, dealing with burnout, and connecting with the right support. She offers concrete suggestions to help erase the prejudice and discrimination based on misinformation about mental illness.

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