Michael R Lewis

The Storm: a Family's Battle with Mental Illness Michael R Lewis

n the 1950s, mental illness was in the closet, a condition rarely discussed beyond immediate family members. A young mother struggles with bipolar disorder, abusing alcohol and prescription drugs before seeking psychiatric help. Their solution: mind-altering shock and insulin treatments. Her husband, fighting to keep the love of his life, focuses on her recovery, working two jobs to cover the costs of a decade-long cycle of depression. Her son, just entering his teenage years, feeling abandoned and lost in his anger at the disintegration of the family by forces he can't understand, explores the dark side of his character. There are no winners in this family tragedy, just survivors. The familial strands are stretched and strained, almost to the breaking point. "The Storm" is a testament to the resilience of families and individuals, not the triumph of modern medicine or the saving grace of a miracle. It is a story of love and responsibility overcoming adversity of the worst sort, of going ahead when the future is most uncertain.