When Your Adult Child Breaks Your Heart: Coping with Mental Illness, Substance Abuse, and the Problems That Tear Families Apart

Behind nearly every adult who is accused of a crime, becomes addicted to drugs or alcohol, or who is severely mentally ill and acting out in public, there is usually at least one extremely stressed-out parent. This parent may initially react with the bad news of their adult child behaving badly with, "Oh no!" followed by, "How can I help to fix this?" A very common third reaction is the thought, "Where did I go wrong--was it something I said or did, or that I failed to do when my child was growing up that caused these issues? Is this really somehow all my fault?" These parents then open their homes, their pocketbooks, their hearts, and their futures to "saving" their adult child--who may go on to leave them financially and emotionally broken. Sometimes these families also raise the children their adult children leave behind: 1.6 million grandparents in the U.S. are in this situation. This helpful book presents families with quotations and scenarios from real suffering parents (who are not identified), practical advice, and tested strategies for coping. It also discusses the fact that parents of adult children may themselves need therapy and medications, especially antidepressants. The book is written in a clear, reassuring manner by Dr. Joel L. Young, medical director of the Rochester Center for Behavioral Medicine in Rochester Hills, Michigan; with noted medical writer Christine Adamec, author of many books in the field. In the wake of the Newtown shooting and the viral popularity of the post "I Am Adam Lanza's Mother," America is now taking a fresh look, not only at gun control, but also on how we treat mental illness. Another major issue is our support or stigmatization of those with adult children who are a major risk to their families as well to society itself. This book is part of that conversation.

Author: Joel Young, Christine Adamec
Publisher: Lyons Press
Published: 12/03/2013
Pages: 264
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.65lbs
Size: 8.90h x 6.00w x 0.80d
ISBN: 9780762792979


Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 10/07/2013
Library Journal 11/15/2013 pg. 80

About the Author
Joel L. Young, M.D. is a board-certified adolescent, adult and forensic psychiatrist. He is the medical director of the Rochester Center for Behavioral Medicine outside of Detroit. RCBM is a clinical research site and outpatient clinic specializing in the treatment of individuals and families struggling with mental illness, including ADHD, substance use disorders, mood disorders, and psychosis. In addition, Dr. Young teaches Psychiatry at the Wayne State University School of Medicine. He is the author of ADHD Grown Up (W.W. Norton, 2007) and Contemporary Guide to Adult ADHD (Handbooks in Healthcare, 2009). More information about Dr. Young, and the Rochester Center of Behavioral Medicine can be fount at www.rcbm.net. Christine Adamec has written more than 30 self-help books and encyclopedias, most recently Amphetamines and Methamphetamine (Chelsea House, 2012) and The Encyclopedia of Kidney Diseases and Disorders (Facts On File, 2011). In addition, she coauthored Fibromyalgia for Dummies (Wiley, 2007), which has sold 100,000 copies in two editions. Adamec has also written or coauthored numerous books on substance abuse and mental illness, including), The Encyclopedia of Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse (Facts On File, 2010), The Encyclopedia of Drug Abuse (Facts On File, 2008)and How to Live with a Mentally Ill Person (Wiley, 1996). Adamec lives near Orlando, Florida. Read more at christineadamec.com