"I heard he was just diagnosed with a mental illness. Can you believe that?" The speaker is laughing so hard she can hardly get the words out. "That sure explains a lot."

Oh my God, I think to myself. They could be laughing about my mother.

In some ways things have not changed over the past thirty years. These women have absolutely no clue how hard it is on those suffering from mental illness or on those wrapped up in the lives of the mentally ill. No wonder I kept my story a secret. To be honest, I feel a little vulnerable sharing it now, but it's time.

I wonder how many of us are confronted with this insensitivity day after day. I know firsthand how hard it is to cope with this disease. I spent my childhood loving a mother who suffered from bipolar disorder and who at times lived with it untreated.

Her illness not only compromised her life, it compromised her family members' lives as well. This book is designed to help us understand the world of mental illness, challenge and transform the "suffer in silence" dynamic, and make mental illness more understood, treated and accepted.