Will’s Choice

Description

On March 11, 2001, seventeen-year-old Will ingested a near-fatal dose of his antidepressant medication, an event that would forever change his life and the lives of his family. In Will’s Choice, his mother, Gail Griffith, tells the story of her family’s struggle to renew Will’s interest in life and to regain their equilibrium in the aftermath.

Griffith intersperses her own finely wrought prose with dozens of letters and journal entries from family and friends, including many from Will himself. A memoir with a social conscience, Will’s Choice lays bare the social and political challenges that American families face in combating this most mysterious and stigmatized of illnesses. In Gail Griffith, depressed teens have found themselves a formidable advocate, and in the evocative and fiercely compelling narrative of Will’s Choice, we all discover the promise of a second chance.

“Powerful prose…Griffith educates and empathizes. With the story of Will’s choice—life—she gives hope to families in crisis.” “A comfort and resource for people of any age struggling out of that pitch-dark place of the soul.” “A heartbreaking and hopeful account that highlights a public health crisis in dire need of attention.” “Gripping, grueling and entrancing…A knowledgeable guide’s revelatory report on a disturbing phenomenon.” “Painfully honest…heartrending…a plea to society to recognize that depression is a serious but treatable illness.” “Griffith’s stirring prose is supplemented by…useful and possibly life-saving advice for parents…a powerful personal story.” “This is a book about the struggle to supplement love with wisdom in the face of great pain.” “Ground-breaking…If this book serves as a wake-up call, it is truly one that could save lives. “A look inside the minds of a patient and his family, and…an excellent teaching tool for clinicians.” “Perceptive and instructive…a valuable document in the fight for better health care for our mentally ill children.” “A courageous and unflinching chronicle …. A beautifully written handbook of help and hope.”

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