Main description:

One mother's fight to support her son and change a broken system

In his early twenties, Mindy Greiling's son, Jim, was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder after experiencing delusions that demanded he kill his mother. At the time, and for more than a decade after, Greiling was a Minnesota state legislator who struggled, along with her husband, to navigate and improve the state's inadequate mental health system. Fix What You Can is an illuminating and frank account of caring for a person with a mental illness, told by a parent and advocate.

Greiling describes challenges shared by many families, ranging from the practical (medication compliance, housing, employment) to the heartbreaking-suicide attempts, victimization, and illicit drug use. Greiling confronts the reality that some people with serious mental illness may be dangerous and reminds us that medication works-if taken.

The book chronicles her efforts to pass legislation to address problems in the mental health system, including obstacles to parental access to information and insufficient funding for care and research. It also recounts Greiling's painful memories of her grandmother, who was confined in an institution for twenty-three years-recollections that strengthen her determination that Jim's treatment be more humane. Written with her son's cooperation, Fix What You Can offers hard-won perspective, practical advice, and useful resources through a brave and personal story that takes the long view of what success means when coping with mental illness.

Contents:

Contents

Our Story

Prologue

Part I

1. The Call

2. Alarm Bells

3. Bum

4. Psych Ward Silence

5. Sharing the News

6. Frustration Inspires Legislation

7. Allies in Empathy and Action

8. Angela Visits

9. Advice from a Prisoner

10. The Third Rail

11. One of Them

12. Early Intervention

13. Tasks Unlimited

14. Debating the Governor

15. "This Bill Will Save Lives"

16. Mind Over Fat

17. Jim Is Amazing

18. The Depths of Delusion

Part II

19. Vulnerable Adult

20. Mother's Day Turmoil

21. Really Bad News

22. ACT

23. Celebrating in Mental Health Court

24. The Risk of Hospitality

25. Colleen

26. A Better Job

27. One Very Lucky Young Man

28. Care Meeting Chaos

29. Deny, Enable, Repeat

30. Jail Instead of the Caucus

31. Escape to Puerto Vallarta

32. Relapse and Roses

33. Treat to Street

34. Where Will Jim Live?

35. Hope in the Shadows

36. Home, for Now

Epilogue

Resources