G712 Am I going to be okay? Weathering the storms of mental illness, addiction, and grief
Author: Debra Whittam
Publisher: Turning Point International
Publishing Date: 2016
ISBN: 978-0-9968817-0-8
Summary:
Am I Going To Be Okay? is a thought provoking true life story of growing up in a family riddled with mental illness and addiction and the effect it had on the children during their formative years. It touches profoundly on the relationship between family fears and frustrations and how they affect a person's level of self-esteem. The author, Debra Whittam, a licensed, practicing mental health therapist casts an unashamed light on her shame-based childhood and subsequent decent into her own sea of addiction, loneliness and denial as well as the steps she took for recovery and wellness. This is a story that will be helpful to all who might need to throw off fear and frustration and gain the courage and self-confidence to produce positive changes in their lives
Author Info:
(From the book)
Debra Whittam is a licensed, practicing mental health therapist in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, who specializes in addiction, anxiety, and depression, grief and loss. Whittam is passionate about her work in all areas o fher specialties, especially addiction. Working in a detox unit for over three years before beginning her own private practice, Whittam realized, while counseling patients in the life and death arena of the detox unit, how much the loss of a beloved through death or a relationship impacted those struggling with addiction.
In this memoir, Whittam skillfully infuses her memories, stories and professional insights to remind us that the most important relationship we willl ever ahve is with ourselves. She splits her time between Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the Adirondack Mountains in upstate New York and Paris, France. This is her first book.
Personal Opinion:
From start to finish, the reader is taken through Debra's family; from beginnings of how abandonment in childhood can impact future generations, to how the author learned to not let the past define her and to grow past it. It's not a lengthy memoir, and while it does explore childhood, adulthood as well as trying to deal with the past, I feel that its a very glossed over life in terms of her marriage at least. What also was explored is what happens when people hold things inside and are not encouraged to express themselves or their feelings. For me it was an addictive blend of psychology and storytelling that anyone can understand.
This is for Pump Up Your Book
4 out of 5
(0: Stay away unless a masochist 1: Good for insomnia 2: Horrible but readable; 3: Readable and quickly forgettable, 4: Good, enjoyable 5: Buy it, keep it and never let it go.)
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