Ranjini Shankar's Reviews > While You Were Out: An Intimate Family Portrait of Mental Illness in an Era of Silence

Anyone who knows me knows I stay very, very far away from non fiction books. However, my friend who is related to the author convinced me to give this one a try and I’m really glad she did. The author is clearly an exceptional writer but what surprised me was the level of genuine heart and vulnerability. I went in wary because I was worried this would feel like a way to profit off of pain but it absolutely was not.

Meg Kissinger comes from a family of 8 kids and she traces the history of mental illness that is a result of both genes and environment through her family tree. As she sees her parents and then her siblings struggle with their mental health in a time when no one talked about it she decides to turn her investigative journalism skills towards uncovering the flaws of the mental health system in the United States.

Her intimate and heartbreaking portrayal of her own family allows the reader to understand why she picked this path and why she advocates so fiercely for mental health. She loses two siblings to suicide and watches all of her surviving ones (including herself) find ways to cope. She discusses with openness how her family, society, church and the government repeatedly failed to protect the vulnerable and what we can do to help.