Mental illness from the inside out

Wintergirls
Laurie Halse Anderson

Awesome work went into this book. I applaud Ms. Anderson, her research, her imagination, her devotion to telling the truth in fiction.

I didn't cry at the end, or at any point in the middle, but that doesn't mean I didn't feel the heartbreak. Oddly--or not so oddly--I identified more with the pain the starving girl's parents and stepmother were feeling than I did with the girl herself. But I still felt it.

In reading something like this you start to understand how impossible it is for family members to effectively intervene in a mental illness. Sometimes I wonder if the best approach is simply to say, often and demonstrably, I love you; I'm here for you; but you're going to need to get yourself through this yourself.  But maybe I'm wrong--maybe there are some magic pills. Maybe someday psychology will learn enough to effectively help young people in trouble. I sure hope so.