What Kind of Mother: A Reckoning

By Judy Sandler

A mother's memoir that reckons with her son's descent into severe mental illness. What appears to be substance use disorder in high school later becomes a dual diagnosis as bipolar disorder emerges. Her son soon grows disillusioned with prescribed pharmaceuticals and participates in a residential treatment program that assists people in forgoing medication altogether. However, the program ultimately ejects him from the community for the very behaviors that the medication once managed. The book chronicles Sandler's initial denial of her truth, her painful awakening to mental illness in her family, and her eventual acceptance that she cannot save her son--only he can save himself.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1959000802
• ISBN13: 9781959000808
• Release Date: September 2026
• Publisher: West Virginia University Press
• Length: 356 Pages