Room for J: A Family Struggles with Schizophrenia - Softcover

Daniel S Hanson

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1592980821 ISBN 13: 9781592980826

Publisher: Bookhouse Fulfillment, 2004

Synopsis

Room for J will touch your heartstrings. It is about a family struggling to come to grips with the unpredictability and unfairness of a severe mental illness. In this book, the father shares his struggle to understand his son J's schizophrenia. J's mother, brother, and sister also reveal what is feels like to lose a son and a brother by sharing pieces from their personal journal entries.
Excerpts from J's own book reveal what it is like to live with someone who believes that he is God on a mission to change the world. The author and family hope these reflections are helpful for other families that struggle with mental illness. They want you to know that you are not alone. They also hope that their voices, along with the voices of others that deal with mental illness, will be heard, so that our world might finally make room for all our J's.

About this title

About the Author

Daniel S. Hanson is an experienced leader, an author, and a teacher. He is the author of A Place to Shine: Emerging from the Shadows at Work and Cultivating Common Ground: Releasing the Power of Relationships at Work. Dan is currently a member of the faculty at Augsburg College in Minneapolis, MN, where he teaches courses in Communication.

From Publishers Weekly

Life's normal highs and lows take on a devastating new meaning for Hanson and his wife when their sensitive but bright and engaging third child rather suddenly declares as a young adult that he is God. The resulting diagnosis of schizophrenia only serves to categorize Joel, whom they call "J," as one of many mentally ill Americans for whom services and care are a parallel universe filled with frustrations and heartbreak. Written as a series of journal entries beginning with J's diagnosis and ending with his ongoing treatment and support programs, this book outlines the enormous pain and confusion that the immediate family of a seriously ill person must endure every day, from making near-impossible choices about medications that treat symptoms but have terrible side effects, to calling the police to help commit a child against his will. Hanson, a communications professor at Augsburg College in Minneapolis, writes candidly about his family's sincere efforts to honor and respect—against all logic and rational thought—the delusions and feelings of the son they know can be a gentle, loving person with a talent for connecting with children and a knack for fly fishing, while remembering that "the burden of caring can be too much to bear unless you learn to care for yourself as well." Photos.
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About this edition

• Publisher: Bookhouse Fulfillment
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 1592980821
• ISBN 13: 9781592980826
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 125