After Her Brain Broke: Helping My Daughter Recover Her Sanity

by Susan Inman

Susan Inman's memoir describes her family's nine year journey to help her younger daughter recover from a catastrophic schizoaffective disorder.  "...one of the best accounts I have read of serious mental illness as told by a mother." and "Highly recommended" E. Fuller Torrey, MD author of Surviving Schizophrenia

Now Available at Chapters/Indigo  and Amazon.com

 In the introduction to the book:

The Hon Michael Kirby, Chair of the Mental Health Commission of Canada, and Ella Amir, Chair, Family Caregivers Advisory Committee, Mental Health Commission of Canada state:

"Susan Inman's account provides glimpses of the heartache and devastation a family experiences when mental illness strikes. In a measured tone devoid of drama or embellishment, she describes her travail over nine years of her daughter's illness, a 'devoted and desperate' mother."

"Susan's heart wrenching account is an important reminder of the work we still have to do to ensure that people with mental illness and their families get the same treatment and respect that individuals with physical illnesses receive. It is also testimony to the devotion and dedication of families, which sadly often comes at the expense of their own well-being"

From E. Fuller Torrey, author of Surviving Schizophrenia, Executive Director of the Stanley Medical Research Foundation, Founder, Treatment Advocacy Center, and former Advisor to the National Alliance For the Mentally Ill (NAMI)

"Susan Inman's book is one of the best accounts I have read of serious mental illness as told by a mother. Very nicely written, she describes the occasional highlights and more common lowlights of the psychiatric care system, as experienced by her daughter. Ms. Inman's attempts to educate herself and her support of her daughter as they wend their way through the schizoaffective therapeutic maze provide a model for other families. Highly recommended."

Daniel Kalla, MD, ER Physician, St. Paul's Hospital, Vancouver and International Bestselling Author of Pandemic, Rage Therapy, Blood Lies, and Of Flesh And Blood had this to say of the book:

"After Her Brain Broke is a harrowing, heart wrenching, and ultimately triumphant story of one family's struggle with a child's mental illness. It's impossible not to be moved by Susan Inman's honest and touching account of her daughter's sudden descent into mental health turmoil and the family's long hard battle to overcome it. A must read for families coping with a mental illness, and a wonderful eye-opener for those of us lucky enough not to have been affected."

Stephanie Engel, a Harvard psychiatrist said:

Susan Inman has written a much needed book about her experience as a mother coming to grips with her daughter’s devastating mental illness. Other parents will recognize and take comfort from her courageous and persistent efforts to learn what is known about psychotic illnesses and their treatment, while holding tenaciously to her own personal knowledge of what it means to be a loving, humane and thoughtful parent. Believing in one’s own instincts as a parent in the face of expertise, myths and prejudices is a monumental task, and Ms Inman does it with grace and conviction.

Jehannine C. Austin, PhD CGC/CCGC Assistant Professor, MSFHR Scholar & CIHR New Investigator UBC Departments of Psychiatry and Medical Genetics.

"Susan Inman eloquently and movingly describes her journey through her  daughter's illness. She illuminates the often neglected struggles of  people whose family members have serious mental illness. Her powerful story offers hope and validation to others who find themselves in similar situations.

Without self-pity, Inman shares experiences that amount to systematic vilification by the mental health system. For those of us working within it, this induces a sick shudder of recognition. Yet, it also provides an opportunity to reflect upon how we perceive and interact with family members of those with serious mental illness. Inman has produced a book that constitutes important reading for both family members and mental health professionals alike." 

P. Jane Milliken, RN, PhD Associate Professor Associate Director Undergraduate Education School of Nursing, University of Victoria

"Susan Inman’s story mirrors that of other parents and family members who love and care for a mentally ill relative.  Anguish, frustration, sadness, and the inability to know how to act and react can define their lives.  Susan’s story is inspirational because she also models the sheer determination, resourcefulness, and personal strength that can develop when steering a loved one toward recovery, through a world still plagued by misunderstanding and intolerance, rather than empathy and compassion."

Renea Mohammed, Program Co-ordinator, Vancouver Community Mental Health Services, Peer Support Program

"This is an important and powerful work that not only illustrates what it is like for families touched by mental illness, but also serves as a reminder of the tremendous resource that family can be for those of us recovering from a mental health issue. Family members are, for many of us, the ones who will go that extra mile. They are the unsung heroes in many a story. Susan's book demonstrates very aptly the difference that family can make and the importance of having a mental health system that works with them."

   About Susan Inman

Susan has written numerous articles on topics related to   serious          mental illnesses for a variety of Canadian publications including The Globe and Mail, the Vancouver Province, and the online journal The Tyee.She continues to participate in public speaking at large and small events about the experiences of families dealing with serious mental illnesses.She is currently vice-chair of the Family Advisory Committee (FAC) of  Vancouver Coastal Mental Health Services (VCMHS). Since 2005, she has been involved in organizing an annual Family Conference co-sponsored by  the FAC, VCMHS, the BCSS, and the Mood Disorder Association of BC.

A Past President of the Vancouver/Richmond Branch of the British Columbia Schizophrenia Society (BCSS), she received, in 2005, an award from the BCSS in recognition of her "outstanding service and dedication to alleviate the suffering caused by schizophrenia and other serious mental illnesses"

She created and produced, in partnership with the Schizophrenia Society of Canada, the BCSS, and Playwrights Theatre Centre (PTC) in Vancouver, the This Is a Spoon one act playwrighting contest for scripts dealing with schizophrenia. This national contest culminated in June, 2003, in two evenings of soldout performances of professionally staged readings at PTC of the winning script.

Susan received a BA from Swarthmore College and an MA from UCLA. She has taught drama and English at Windermere Secondary School in Vancouver for almost twenty years. (photo by Portraits by Anita, Vancouver)

Distributed by the Ingram Book Company, trade paper, ISBN 978-0-9810037-8-8

Further details forthcoming- for more information about this book or others by Bridgeross Communications  e-mail info@bridgeross.com

For an explanation of schizophrenia published by Bridgeross, please see Schizophrenia: Medicine's Mystery - Society's Shame recommended by the World Fellowship for Schizophrenia and Allied Disorders.