A review by lmdesai11
January First: A Child's Descent into Madness and Her Father's Struggle to Save Her by Michael Schofield

5.0

I was completely engrossed in this book and enjoyed reading it - partially because my background is in working clinically with children. This is one man's heart-wrenching tale of trying to help his daughter find a place in the world. Her diagnosis makes sharing his world challenging and frustrating at best, and impossible at worst...I often wanted to yell at the professionals in the story right along with the author/father. While remembering that this is simply one family's experience with the profession of pediatric mental health, this story shows just how much more is needed to help children and their families, from access to services to availability of appointments, and being taken seriously in hospitals that are ill equipped to handle mental health to begin with. I would highly recommend this book, but know that you are reading an intense memoir.