The Price of Silence is an excellent introduction to the world of mental illness through the experiences of our most treasured, our children. In America we take pride in our beliefs that our children receive our best, the honest story told here provides a different view. This book tells a story of mothers' love and the complex and often contradictory world of illnesses obfuscated by stigma, political posturing at all levels, and a general breakdown of care. Correlated data offers statistical accounts of the intersection of childhood mental illness, poverty, and prison. The author's revelations describe a difficult, multi-faceted problem. The structure of the writing reinforces key points while building logical connections and observances. Liza Long, the author, bravely steps forward and weaves a relevant portrayal of her family's struggles with a beloved son's mental illness. Siblings, parents, friends, neighbors, and communities all are affected. Their story explains the realities, the numbers demonstrate the breadth of the problem --- one in five children face mental illness in our country. ( )

Utterly fascinating!
For the simple truth that, FINALLY, someone is addressing the poor way that Mental Illness is dealt with in society! It starts by addressing the recent school shootings and how the "experts" immediately say that we need gun control and that will fix everything ... but for the parents with children with mental health disease -- actually, anyone who deals with mental health diseases -- knows otherwise. It's not as easy as just "remove the guns and everyone will be safe" ... It's a mental health issue and one that parents deal with every single day.

The book then goes into detail the different ways that society ignores mental illness.

Adrianne ( )

It took me six months to read this book. Not because it was poorly written or difficult to understand, but because it was painful. My son is physically disabled, so I'm well-aware of the difficultly of working with the system and have seen many of the failures first-hand. This is a good read for anything who wants to understand what it is like to navigate day-to-day with a mental illness. While I don't agree with everything Long has to say, she is speaking about her son's personal situation and treatment that varies widely from person to person. If you can understand that, you can take something away from The Price of Silence. ( )

I completely understand Liza Long's situation in a way few others can: I have two children of my own who are severely mentally ill (one experienced a first manic state at age 3; another was hospitalized for more than 7 of the past 9 months); and a third child who is developmentally disabled with severe behavioral challenges who exhausts and overwhelms us on a daily basis; none have received any real public support and we are in a lawsuit at the federal court level at this point over preliminary aspects of the inadequacy of our state to provide FAPE for our third child.

That said, Ms. Long's books is so very specific to her own situation and experience, her unusual religious background compared to the majority of Americans (Mormons living in large Mormon communities simply aren't the majority American experience), that it is hard to get close to. It just doesn't lend itself to generalization, bigger thinking, recommendations, or policy ideas.

What it does do is record yet another family devastated by national policy in the US of decentralizing service coordination and the very existence of services themselves, while policy makers claim they are providing those services "in the community." None of those community services ever come to exist other than on paper, and family after family is destroyed while their loved ones are discarded by society. ( )

The Price of Silence is such a worthwhile read. Liza Long provides an excellent overview of the current state of youth mental health services (or, in many cases, the lack thereof) while sharing her own experiences as the mother of a bipolar son. Long's complete avoidance of self-pity in regards to the latter is really impressive. As is her intelligence, bravery, and her love for her child. Long's message: cast off the stigma of mental illness, get those with mental illness medical treatment on par with that provided for other health conditions, and look at the person, not just the illness. This is a moving and inspiring book. ( )