— Emmylou Harris

Gail Griffith's nightmare began one Sunday morning when she tried to rouse her teenage son, Will, from a semi-comatose, incoherent sleep. Her sixth sense told her immediately that something was seriously wrong. But despite the fact that Will was being treated for clinical depression, Gail could not process the truth—that the once joyous and loving Will had attempted suicide by ingesting two bottles of his antidepressant medication. She also could not imagine the odyssey that Will, her family, and she herself would need to embark on to make him well.

WILL'S CHOICE: A Suicidal Teen, a Desperate Mother, and a Chronicle of Recovery (Harper Collins; May 1, 2005; $24.95) is Gail Griffith's fiercely candid memoir of her family's ordeal. As she recounts Will's struggle with depression, and the slow and painful process of recovery, Griffiths offers a singular look at one family's experience, as well as the broader issues that millions of families encounter when faced with the epidemic of teen depression and suicide. Informed and galvanized by her experience, Griffith offers a report from the trenches that will help others struggling with the stigma of teen depression.

What sets WILL'S CHOICE apart from other books on teen depression is the way Griffith eloquently weaves together her family's story using a chorus of voices — letters to Will from her and his father, from teachers, counselors, friends, cousins, and siblings, as well as correspondence and medical records from attending doctors. Most poignant and revealing are excerpts from Will's own journal, where he struggles to understand, often with self-deprecating wit, why he has tried to take his own life. Entries from his erstwhile girlfriend, Megan, chronicle her own parallel bouts of depression, which manifest itself in compulsive cutting.

Griffith explores the hereditary legacy of Will's disease, sharing the details of her own battle with depression a decade earlier, an experience which helped her empathize with Will. With the unbridled instincts of a savagely protective mother she rails against a healthcare system that has proven inadequate in treating most teens suffering from depression. Despite their apprehensions and fears that they were not up to the task, Gail and the family quickly learn they will have to take control of Will's treatment to assure him a chance at recovery. First at an urban psychiatric hospital and later in a residential treatment program in Montana, Will encounters a series of false starts and dead ends, resisting the compassionate efforts to help him, until the right combination of medications and therapy begin to take effect. Meanwhile, the family is racked with guilt and frustration.

WILL'S CHOICE is an extraordinary portrait of a family in crisis, but it is also a reassuring primer for others who might find themselves dealing with the scourge of teen depression. Griffith offers reams of practical advice, learned firsthand, about finding the right course of treatment, working closely with psychiatrists and therapists, and dealing with practical realities such as impervious insurance companies concerned only with the bottom line. Sharing what she now knows, Griffith discusses the warning signs that evaded her, and points parents of depressed teens toward the resources they will need to fight for the mental health of their sons and daughters.

“WILL'S CHOICE will be of great interest to families who have struggled through their child's treatment for depression and its related crises,” says Darcy Gruttadaro, J.D., Director of the Child & Adolescent Action Center, National Alliance for the Mentally Ill. “It will also be instructive to families who have not experienced these challenges by helping them to better understand what it is to live with these illnesses (unless they've walked in these shoes, they will never truly know). Gail Griffith captures all this with love, compassion, and empathy.”

About the Author

Gail Griffith is a well-spoken fundraiser and organizer actively involved in international humanitarian and arts causes. In 2004, she served as a “patient representative” on the FDA’s scientific advisory committee examining the risks associated with antidepressant medication and adolescents. A graduate of UC Berkeley and Georgetown University, she has traveled extensively throughout the world, and most recently worked for the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation's International Campaign to Ban Landmines (which received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997). She lives in Washington, D.C..

WILL’S CHOICE

A Suicidal Teen, a Desperate Mother, and a Chronicle of Recovery

By Gail Griffith

Publication Date: May 3, 2005

Price: $24.95 ($34..95 Can.)

Pages: 336

ISBN: 006-059865-4

HarperCollinsPublishers

© 2005 HealthNewsDigest.com