Profiles in Mental Health Courage portrays the dramatic journeys of a diverse group of Americans who have struggled with their mental health. This book offers deeply compelling stories about the bravery and resilience of those living with a variety of mental illnesses and addictions.

Several years ago, Patrick J. Kennedy shared the story of his personal and family challenges with mental illness and addictionand the nationsin his bestselling memoir, A Common Struggle. Now, he and his Common Struggle coauthor, award-winning healthcare journalist Stephen Fried, have crafted this powerful new book sharing the untold stories of othersa special group who agreed to talk about their illnesses, treatments, and struggles for the first time.

When Kennedys uncle, President John F. Kennedy, published his classic book Profiles in Courage, he hoped to inspire political courage by telling the stories of brave U.S. senators who changed America.

In Profiles in Mental Health Courage, former Congressman Kennedy adapts his uncles idea to inspire the mental health courage it takes for those with these conditions to treat their illnesses, and risk telling their stories to help America face its crisis in our families, our workplaces, our jails, and on our streets. The resounding silence surrounding these illnesses remains persistent, and this book takes an unflinching look at the experience of mental illness and addiction that inspires profound connection, empathy, and action.

In this book, youll meet people of all ages, backgrounds, and futures, across politics and government, Hollywood and the arts, tech and business, sports and sciencesome recovering, some relapsing, some just barely holding on, but all sharing experiences and insights we need to better understand. Youll also meet those trying to help them throughparents, siblings, spouses, therapists, bosses, doctors, and friends who create the extended families needed to support care and wellness.

The personal stories they share with Kennedy and Fried are intimate, sometimes shocking, always revealing. And they are essential reading for caregivers, family members, policymakers, and the general publicjust as they are for those who often feel alone in experiencing these challenges themselves.