Last Tuesday (July 9th), I gathered with fellow mental health advocates and my brilliant co-editor, L.D. Green, for the launch of our first book, “We’ve Been Too Patient: Stories and Research Challenging the Bio-medical Model.”

Published by North Atlantic Books and distributed by Penguin Random House- we were so excited to have an official launch at McNally Bookstores in Brooklyn with coverage by CSPAN! Our families and friends joined and listened to a reading of the contributors along with a panel discussion about mental health and stigma.

Things got REAL- quickly. Our contributors have stories of force holds, electroconvulsive  therapy, involuntary treatment, stigma, oppression, and isolation. Trying to reframe what the world has been told and sold about mental “illness” is not an easy task. There is hope and research about the recovery model, peer support, and interventions that are creative and narrative focused.

It was so powerful. I’m in awe of the collection of voices and experiences- and I know being vulnerable and putting yourself out there is empowering and also risky. (I hear all my friends yell, don’t read the comments!) There is a lot of judgment out there about this conversation and navigating how to keep moving and not letting things drag you down will be part of the dance.

After three years of dedication to writing, editing, conversations, and more editing- I feel proud to see this work live beyond the page. (My mom, the doctor, took the book to work and read a loud to her co-workers and told them we need to do better.) Talk about living beyond the page…