From Here is a collection of 22 fictional short stories exploring the lives of people who battle the symptoms of a mental illness and survive to tell the tale. Despite these characters' suffering, there is humor and hope as they seek meaning in this complex and little understood world. The collection opens with a frightened homeless man who encounters a well-intentioned social worker. In another story, a woman explains why she amputated her hand. A teenaged girl fights anorexia, and a young man tries to care for his incarcerated mother. The last story returns to the characters in the first, describing their encounter from the social worker' s point of view. This character and voice-driven manuscript explores what it means to be touched by mental illness, and how the experience can completely alter lives in unexpected and powerful ways. My recovery from schizo-affective disorder has provided me with compassion, respect and a sense of humor as I seek to educate, advocate and reduce stigma for the 20 percent of Americans who deal with psychiatric disabilities at some point in their lives.
