It's a story not every family wants to tell but Meg Kissinger's new book about her family's struggle with mental health may encourage others to start that conversation.
"I knew that the most compelling story was the one of my own family. I wanted readers to know what that felt like to watch the people that you love struggle and not get the help," said Kissinger, an award-winning journalist.
Kissinger was @TheTable Monday night to talk about her new book: While You Were Out: An Intimate Family Portrait of Mental Illness In An Era of Silence.
Kissinger has been writing about mental illness for years, including her time as a reporter with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
"I spent so many years as a reporter, much of that here in Milwaukee, writing about the problems with our mental health system, and the inability to get people into care. "
Kissinger's family story starts in a Chicago suburb growing up in the 1960s with two loving parents who struggled with alcohol and mental health.
Two of her seven siblings died by suicide and a third struggles with mental health every day.
"I want people to understand the agony, what that's like when you're looking for help and can't get it. But then also the love that our family has for one another, said Kissinger. A lot of people are ashamed to talk about mental illness in their family. It's a painful thing."
Writing the book helped Kissinger answer some of her own questions about seeking help to process everything.
"We all have moments when we need the help of other people. I knew when I set out to write this book that was going to be a tall order, I was going to be plowing through some very difficult material to get to those truths," said Kissinger. "So, I knew that I needed some scaffolding, and I knew that I needed help."
Watch the full conversation in the video at the top of this article.
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