Patrick J. Kennedy

Back in mid-90's, I worked at a tiny start-up newspaper in Rhode Island and for reasons that were never particularly clear to me, our staff received an invitation to attend a Christmas party at (what I at least thought was) Patrick Kennedy's home. I figured if you get invited to a party by Kennedy (or staff member,) you go. The only thing I really remember about the party is that Kennedy had a lovely portrait (or drawing) of a blonde woman in his living room and I wondered who it might be -- his mother? his grandmother? The house was lovely for a bachelor pad, so it probably wasn't even his house. There is my one and only Kennedy story.

I follow politics enough to have a general idea of Patrick Kennedy's struggles over the years, so I thought I'd check out his book "A Common Struggle: A Personal Journey Through the Past and Future of Mental Health and Addiction." If you're looking for salacious details of Kennedy misfortunes, you aren't going to find it here -- most of the family secrets here are already pretty well known -- but I found the book pretty absorbing in that it talks a bit about the role of "being a Kennedy" (and more importantly to Patrick hiding all those family secrets) took on Kennedy's mental health.

The book is definitely filled with overviews of the legislative history of mental health parity laws, so if that isn't something that interests you, you should steer clear. I thought the book was a good balance between political tome and personal story though.… (mehr)

A look at the life of the youngest child of Senator Ted Kennedy. Former Congressman Patrick Kennedy opens up about his struggle with drug addiction and his mental health. It's an honest memoir, one that pulls no punches, and is upfront about the obstacles that he's overcome and is still overcoming.

There's no scandalous Kennedy revelations here. If you're looking for that, look elsewhere. What Patrick has done is share his story in an honest, sincere way. At the end of the book there are tips for the reader to help get involved in mental health legislation.

The politics of the book can get a bit boring, but otherwise this is a good read.… (mehr)

A Common Struggle is a wise and compassionate book about the fight for funding and parity for people with substance abuse and mental illness and a highly personal account of Mr. Kennedy's own struggles with these issues. What I found compelling about the book was Mr Kennedy's ability to make us care about people with mental illness and substance abuse and to equally care about Mr Kennedy's own personal journey. I was fascinated with the blow-by-blow descriptions of how Mr Kennedy built coalitions, formed alliances, handled naysayers and moved others forward, including his father, to gain mental health parity and I learned so much about the political process and how to make change. As a social worker who knows quite a bit about the impact of deinstitutionalization on community mental health I was riveted by his descriptions and so impressed with his deep knowledge of the issues. At times I felt like I was reading a thriller to see what would happen next and whether and whether he would succeed (Yes and No-there is so much work to be done).

I know that this book has caused rifts in Mr Kennedy's family due to some of his disclosures. Having lived in Boston for 35 years there is really no new information that wasn't already known. I actually feel more compassion for Senator Kennedy as his son described the burdens that he carried and the PTSD that haunted him. And the same is true for Patrick Kennedy who I have not always sympathized with as he crashed cars and went in and out of hospitals. What I now see is how amazing it is that despite this he could still make some of the most important changes in mental health law on a national scale. Very brave.

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to review this book.… (mehr)