For more than twenty years Josie Méndez-Negrete has endured the emotional journey of watching her son Tito struggle with schizophrenia. Her powerful account is the first memoir by a Mexican American author to share the devastation and hope a family experiences in dealing with this mental illness. Méndez-Negrete depicts the evolution of the disease from her perspective as a parent and by relating Tito’s own narrative, illuminating the inadequacies of the US mental health system and the added burdens of addiction and blame. Through the author, Tito paints a vivid picture of his lived experiences and everyday traumas to show how his life and the lives of his loved ones have been impacted by mental illness.
About the Author: Josie Méndez-Negrete
Josie Méndez-Negrete is a sociologist who teaches Mexican American studies in the Department of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies at the University of Texas at San Antonio. She is also the author of Las hijas de Juan: Daughters Betrayed.
Reviews/Quotes
"A Life on Hold tells the story that many families suffer but few have the courage and the resources to tell. Méndez-Negrete opens up her life so others can learn from it. It is heartbreaking to have any family member suffer illness; it is another type of hell to have one’s child enter a reality you cannot reach even with your best intentions as a parent. Méndez-Negrete allows us into her world so families undergoing similar experiences can find respite and hope that they are doing the best they can. Bravo to this beautiful family trying to survive the best they can the hand the universe has dealt them."—Aida Hurtado, Professor and Luis Leal Endowed Chair, Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara || REVIEWS: “Méndez-Negrete weaves powerful accounts of her visits to her son with factual information from professional literature. . . . [A Life on Hold] will make you appreciate what is right in your life and what is right in the human race.”—Story Circle Book Reviews “A truly extraordinary account, A Life on Hold: Living with Schizophrenia is an absolutely absorbing read from beginning to end. Candid, informative, intensely personal, detailed, and deftly written.”—Midwest Book Review
Additional information
Book Author
Josie Méndez-Negrete
Publisher
University of New Mexico Press
Language
English
ISBN
978-0826340566
Pages
296
Format
Paperback
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