Embracing the Shadows : Hudsongarden Press : 9798989507504 : 01 Dec 2023 : Embracing The Shadows is a non-fiction narrative about three different types of mental illness in my family of origin. I asked the question, "Why not me?" along with searching for answers on how these illnesses were related. I tell of my father's Manic Depression that went unmedicated until Lithium was FDA-approved in 1967 when I was about seventeen years old. I talk about his psychosis, electroshock therapies, and New York Psychiatric Hospitals, with a harrowing story about his stay in the Bellevue Hospital Psych Ward. There are also some funny stories of what a Bipolar salesman can accomplish when manic. Secondly, I talk about my brother's life - being institutionalized at the age of 3 1/2 because he was "mentally retarded", which was the vernacular of the day. He spent 15 years at Willowbrook State School on Staten Island and I give the history of what happened there, starting with Geraldo Rivera's Ex