Nothing to Hide: Mental Illness in the Family [Paperback]

Jean J. Beard (Author), Peggy Gillespie (Author), Gigi Kaeser (Photographer), Kenneth Duckworth M.D. (Introduction), Kay Redfield Jamison (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2002

A compelling collection of family photographs and moving first-person narratives about people living with mental illness.

One in five Americans has a mental illness. Nothing to Hide, a stunning tribute to the millions of families for whom mental illness is a part of everyday life, juxtaposes first-person accounts with beautifully reproduced duotone photographs of 44 families who defy the stigma of mental illness to speak for themselves about their lives, their illnesses, and their struggles to get well.

Each family in the book is portrayed in two ways: Photographs capture the members together and, often, singly or in pairs. Individual statements—usually one from each person in the family—complete the family picture by telling the story from various points of view. The families, different in many ways, have in common an ongoing struggle with illnesses ranging from schizophrenia and bipolar illness to obsessive compulsive disorder and major depression. These open and candid stories show us that the mentally ill and their families have much in common with the rest of us. They can be found in every community of America, and represent the full range of our economic, racial, and ethnic diversity. Only a small percentage of the mentally ill live with caretakers or in treatment centers.

In her foreword, MacArthur Award-winning author and psychologist Kay R. Jamison calculates the enormous costs of stigmatizing the mentally ill. And an introduction by Kenneth Duckworth, medical director for the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health, details our current understanding of mental illness. The book concludes with a moving personal essay by Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post journalist Dave Maraniss. 78 duotone photographs.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Based on a travelling photo-text exhibit produced by the non-profit Family Diversity Project, this book features posed but casual portraits and candid first-person accounts of mentally ill people and their families. Beard and Gillespie (both licensed clinical social workers) present 44 families from a wide range of racial, educational, geographic and class backgrounds, as "mental illness knows no boundaries." Portraitist Kaeser's simple black-and-white photographs show the families involved, but are not stirring enough to catch the interest of casual browsers; much more revealing are the interviews. All the subjects here identify themselves as mentally ill, but the words they use to describe their conditions run from the clinical to the vernacular; some "consider worlds like `nuts' and `crazy' to be just as offensive as racial epithets; others use these words with a sense of humor." Some methods for coping with mental illness may come as a surprise, as one schizophrenic woman says, "When I told my mother about my voices, she said, `Just listen to them.' So I would listen to them until they would go away."
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

The companion to a traveling photo-text exhibit mounted by the nonprofit agency Family Diversity Projects, this handsome album aims to dispel myths about mental illness and the accompanying stigma. Social workers Beard (retired) and Gillespie (codirector, Family Diversity Projects) compiled the stories of 44 self-selected families whose lives have been changed by mental illness, with Kaeser supplying the fine duotone photos. A range of disorders (e.g., schizophrenia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, depression), ethnic groups, geographic regions, ages, and income levels are represented, and a brief introduction educates the reader about psychiatric disorders. Each story typically includes a narrative by the patient as well as sibling or parental views of the illness. Most of the clearly written essays reflect the view that mental illness is a chemically based brain disorder and that with medication and the support of families and mental health professionals, one can live happily. Each story is surprisingly original and moving, and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Maraniss's tale of a boy and his impaired uncle is particularly poignant. The book concludes with a useful resource guide. The result is a well-conceived volume that should serve as a unique tool for raising public awareness, though its somewhat specialized and discursive nature probably makes it an optional purchase for most public libraries. [This book is published in conjunction with Family Diversity Projects.-Ed.]-Antoinette Brinkman, M.L.S., Evansville, I.
--Antoinette Brinkman, M.L.S., Evansville, IN
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: New Press, The; 1 edition (October 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1565847865
• ISBN-13: 978-1565847866
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 10.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,271,179 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential Reading, January 25, 2003

By 

J. Dosick (Cambridge, MA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nothing to Hide: Mental Illness in the Family (Hardcover)

Nothing to Hide is one of the most important books I've read. As an advocate for people with mental illnesses ('consumers'), and one myself, I believe this book is an essential tool for understanding mental illness: The firsthand experience, how it affects families and friends, the battles for justice and against stigma, and consumers' pervasive courage, humor and grace in the face of despair. Who to speak better about these issues than those directly affected?

The book profiles 44 families of every race, age, size, and background, from all over the U.S. The splendid black and white photos by Gigi Kaeser portray smiling, laughing, playful families. This lightens the mood, and book highlights the families' dignity. All pictured family members talk about their experiences. I am blessed to know several of the families portrayed, and their stories are enlightening and inspiring, but I feel that I know all of the others, as well.

There's so much wisdom in these pages. Consumers detail the struggles and losses of mental illness, but they face it with heroic dignity and strength. The book is not a 'sob story' collection - it doesn't take pity on consumers, which they don't want. More importantly, the book dispels the age-old, tired stigmas surrounding mental illness: that those with it are lazy, violent, and/or stupid.

Family members talk openly of frustration, grief, and moments of love and triumph. Different families deal with mental illness in different ways. Many initially deny the illness, some place blame, and some suffer guilt. Most stand by their loved ones and fight for them. In today's dismal health care system, the families are often on the front lines of advocacy.

The families in this book truly have Nothing to Hide. Beard, Gillespie, and Kaiser have created a powerful document - a treasury and a tool for understanding mental illnesses and becoming a more tolerant society. I cannot recommend it highly enough.