summary ofHidden Valley RoadBook by Robert Kolker

first KEY POINT

We must knock down the stigma around mental health

These days, we're encouraged to talk more openly about mental health, which can only be a positive development. In the '40s and beyond, mental health was whispered about behind closed doors. Such was the case for Don and Mimi Galvin and their large brood of twelve children. Six out of the ten boys were diagnosed with schizophrenia during a time when such conditions were largely misunderstood.The Galvin family's plight quickly became a mission to understand more about schizophrenia and mental health as a whole. Despite their heartbreak and loss, with one son, Brian, killing his girlfriend and himself during a psychotic episode, their story prompted a serious conversation that needed to be had. To understand mental health means to ask tough questions.Schizophrenia is a psychiatric disorder summarized by continuous or relapsing episodes of psychosis. Several repeated psychotic breaks describe it, sometimes throughout the individual's entire life. It can also manifest as a constant stream of psychosis, causing its victim to live a life of continual detachment from reality, often in a constant state of delusion. The condition causes a breakdown in the relation between thought, emotion, and behavior, leading to faulty perceptions and inappropriate actions and feelings. People with the condition tend to exist in their own “worlds” and are always caught up in obscure behavioral patterns.

There is light at the end of the tunnel, however. Once diagnosed, an individual can receive treatment and lead an everyday life. The main issue is a refusal to seek help, and that many friends or family members create excuses for their loved ones, who postpone treatment. In many cases, this is what happened with the Galvins.While it's probably an impossible task to knock down hundreds of years of stigma overnight, Hidden Valley Road starts a meaningful conversation. By telling the story of a typical family, pulled apart by the sheer lack of knowledge of what was going on, perhaps others will see similarities in themselves or loved ones and seek help as a result.