Broken Brain, Fortified Faith

Lessons of Hope Through a Child's Mental Illness

By: Virginia Pillars

Narrated by: Catherine Force

The terms mental illness and mental health are often used casually, but many don't believe mental illness is relevant to their lives. However, studies show that more people live with mental illness than heart disease, lung disease, and cancer combined.

Broken Brain, Fortified Faith is the story of one family's journey through schizophrenia, navigating the uncharted waters of mental illness to find help for their daughter, Amber, and support for their family. This memoir is an honest look at the stress, anger, education, and finally, hope experienced through eyes of a mother. Along the way, she questions her trust in God as their family encounters setbacks, inadequate treatments, and additional family health crises. But with the help of trusted family, friends, education, and support groups, author Virginia Pillars learns to rely on her faith as she faces the challenges that often accompany mental illness.

©2016 Virginia Pillars (P)2016 Virginia Pillars

I loved this. it is so inspiring life can be such

a difficult Journey and this family through the grace of God make the best of each situation.

Not just for families experiencing mental illness

I knew Broken Brain, Fortified Faith would take me through the journey of one family as they experienced dealing with the onset and progression of schizophrenia. What I didn't expect was to learn how woefully inadequate our mental health systems can be and the challenges faced by families when it comes to things like money, guardianship and the legal system. This book is filled with raw emotion not just from the author's standpoint, but from the position of her other family members. Fear, anger, frustration is shared by all, but through faith, perseverance, and the support of family and friends, healing for everyone isn't totally out of reach. This book is for everyone, even if you have never dealt with mental health issues in your family. It reads like a novel and the story is gripping. I couldn't put it down.