Review of I'm not alone: A teen's guide to living with a parent who has mental illness.

Abstract

Reviews the book, I'm not alone: A teen's guide to living with a parent who has a mental illness by M. D. Sherman and D. M. Sherman (see record 2007-18798-000). This book succeeds as a psychologically sound, developmentally appropriate resource for adolescents who have a parent with a mental illness and for the adults who care for those adolescents. It is practical and well-written with a compassionate tone in which sensitive subjects are discussed in a frank, yet reassuring, manner. It takes a perspective consonant with current crisis intervention and disaster literature that the adolescent is experiencing normal reactions to an abnormal situation. It provides clear, accessible information about major depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and substance abuse with an emphasis on serious mental illness as a disease similar to other episodic, chronic diseases in its etiology, prevention, and treatment. This book has an appealing format with journaling to identify and normalize emotions and interactive exercises to develop coping skills. Reading its pages is like having a heart-to-heart conversation with an empathic, knowledgeable mentor or an insightful, wise clinician, which, at a very basic level, is what it indeed is. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved)