Rachel Pruchno

Surrounded By Madness Rachel Pruchno

"What was the likelihood my adopted daughter would have

my father's hazel eyes and my mother's mental illness?"




In this fiercely candid memoir, Dr. Pruchno, a scientist widely

acclaimed for her research on mental illness and families, shows how

mental illness threatened to destroy her own family. Not once, but

twice.




As a child, she didn't understand her mother's episodes of

crippling sadness or whirlwind activity. As a mother, she feared her

daughter Sophie would follow in the footsteps of the grandmother

Sophie never knew.




Unraveling the mysteries of her mother's and daughter's

illnesses, Pruchno fought to preserve her marriage and protect her

son. But it was not until she came to terms with her own secrets that

she truly understood the destructive and pervasive effects mental

illness has on families.




Surrounded By Madness is transforming. It will empower

families to stop hiding and start talking when mental illness strikes.