1. A mother dealing with the repercussions of her daughter’s mental illness is desperately trying to save her daughter from herself.
2. Antagonist
Liz, 18 years old and away at college suddenly becomes mentally ill and must leave college in order to receive medical treatment. She is diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder. The doctors try to find the proper mixture of medication but nothing seems to be working. It is discovered that along with the prescribed medication she is taking, she is also taking illicit drugs. She must be hospitalized in order to manage her illness. But once she is released from the hospital, she stops taking her medication. Her mother desperately tries to help her but finds that because her daughter is an adult she4 has no authority over her medical treatment and has to fight with the mental health professionals to get her daughter the help she needs. Liz spends the next 30 years in and out of hospitals and living on the streets in Southern California. Her mother must raise the two children she has and battle with Liz and her husband over custody through the courts.
The children feeling angry that they are not able to live with their parents and must live with their grandmother (Liz’s mother) become re4bellious. The grandmother not only has to save her daughter but also, must find a way to save her grandchildren from drugs and crime.
3, Breakout Title
A. The Rollercoaster of Mental Illness Through a Mother’s Lens: A Memoir
B. Saving My Daughter from Mental Illness
4. Comparables
A. Finding Us: A Mother’s Memoir of Braving Mental Illness with Her Young Daughter by Kristen Rohan Rehkamp.
B. Broken Brain Fortified Faith by Virginia Pillars.
Both of thses books deal with the struggles of managing and coping with a daughter’s mental
Illness.
5. Hook Line
A mother. Examines her own part in her daughter’s mental illness while facing the
challenges of dealing with the consequences of her daghter’s aactions over a 30 year period
in and out of hospitals.
6. Suzanne must fight her desire and need to be a good mother or accept that she has no power to change her daughter. She comes to the conclusion when her daughter refuses to get the mental help she needs after Suzanne begs her to get help for several hours. Her daughter instead escapes out the window of her home.
7. The Setting
The story begins in. the 1970’s in a beautiful home in Malibu , California overlooking a panoramic view of the Pacific Ocean and concurrently in Miami Beach, Florida at the University of Miami. The story continues for a 30 year span taking the reader to Santa Barbara, California, Boone, North Carolina, and a ranch in San Diego, California. The secondary setting occurs in numerous hospials and the streets of Southern California.
Part 3 The Beginning of The Rollercoaster of Mental Illness Through a Mother’s Lens: A Memoir
PROLOGUE
It's three o’clock in the morning. I am fast asleep. Lying next to me is my husband of twenty-five years. The phone rings. Little do I know my life is about to change. I answered the phone.
“Hello.” At the other end, I hear a jubilant, energetic voice.
“Hey, mom. What’s happening?”
“Liz, are you okay? It’s three in the morning.” I ask, both groggily and yet worried at the same time.
“Whoa, I’m great. Just been out rollerblading down by the beach. How are you?” she boasts.
“I was sleeping, is everything okay?” I ask again. “
Yeah, I just called to see how you’re doing.”
I decided to stay talking to her, instead of telling her I’m going back to bed, hoping that whatever is wrong, if something is wrong, she will eventually tell me. “Is school going, okay? How are you getting along with the other kids?”
I dropped her off at the University of Miami in Coral Gables only two months before. This was her dream school and the only one she was willing to attend. It was the university that all the beautiful girls and football stars attended, she bragged. She had applied for early admission and after being waitlisted for several months, she was finally accepted. Liz had not done well on her SAT’s and her grades were just above average. Going to the University of Miami would prove to her she was one of the “it girls.”
I was nervous to send her far away but excited that she got into the school of her choice. I also thought it would be a great experience to be away from home. We lived in Malibu in a beautiful ranch style home overlooking the Pacific Ocean. I thought the atmosphere at the school and in Miami would not be that much different from where she grew up her whole life, and she would acclimate well.
Liz tells me, speaking a mile a minute, “Everything’s great. I’m going to get into a sorority and I’m getting A’s in my classes. Oh, oh and I got a job giving samples of cigarettes on Miami Beach. They only pick the beautiful girls for the job. It’s kind of like modeling.”
“Liz, I don’t want you to be in a sorority your first semester or get a job for that matter, let alone that it is a job giving out cigarettes” I tell her, incredulously.
“Yeah Mom, but it’s the kind of cigarettes you used to smoke, so I think it’s a sign.” She tries to convince me. “Oh, did I tell you I’m going out with one of the football players? He’s Black.”
As I start to speak, she tells me she has to go and abruptly hangs up the phone.
I look at the receiver, like what has just happened. Was that my daughter I was just talking to? A quiet voice in my head tells me I should be concerned, but I quickly silence that voice and tell myself That was weird.
Dave, who has been listening to my end of the conversation, asks me, “What was that all about?” I quickly reassured him everything is okay, just a bizarre phone call from Liz at three in the morning. At this point, I wasn’t sure whether I should be concerned or was I just being overly paranoid. But a red flag went up in my mind.
“Can you believe she was out rollerblading at three in the morning?” I ask.
He doesn’t answer me and falls back asleep immediately. I on the other hand am up the rest of the night going over our conversation trying to understand why she didn’t think it was inappropriate to call in the middle of the night just to say hi and I was worried about her getting a job selling cigarettes. Little did I know this would be only the first of many conversations that would keep me up at night. And little did I know that my life was about to change forever, as was Liz’s.
Pitch Part 4
I was married for 27 years, living in Malibu, California with a son and a daughter living a relatively normal life. My children were fairly successful in school and their outside school activities. Both my children went to good colleges. Life seemed to be good and then all hell broke loose and my family life became a rollercoaster ride
Then my daughter, 18 years old and away at the University of Miami suddenly became mentally ill with Bipolar Disorder. My daughter must leave school and seek psychiatric treatment. She is given different mixtures of anti-psychotic drugs and go into a mental institution.
However, when she leaves the hospital she stops taking her medication and her hallucinations and psychosis returns. She engages in risky behavior by taking drugs and engaging prostitution. She lives on the street. She has two children which I must raise. I must do everything in my power to save her from herself and her mental illness.
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Part 1
1. A mother dealing with the repercussions of her daughter’s mental illness is desperately trying to save her daughter from herself.
2. Antagonist
Liz, 18 years old and away at college suddenly becomes mentally ill and must leave college in order to receive medical treatment. She is diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder. The doctors try to find the proper mixture of medication but nothing seems to be working. It is discovered that along with the prescribed medication she is taking, she is also taking illicit drugs. She must be hospitalized in order to manage her illness. But once she is released from the hospital, she stops taking her medication. Her mother desperately tries to help her but finds that because her daughter is an adult she4 has no authority over her medical treatment and has to fight with the mental health professionals to get her daughter the help she needs. Liz spends the next 30 years in and out of hospitals and living on the streets in Southern California. Her mother must raise the two children she has and battle with Liz and her husband over custody through the courts.
The children feeling angry that they are not able to live with their parents and must live with their grandmother (Liz’s mother) become re4bellious. The grandmother not only has to save her daughter but also, must find a way to save her grandchildren from drugs and crime.
3, Breakout Title
A. The Rollercoaster of Mental Illness Through a Mother’s Lens: A Memoir
B. Saving My Daughter from Mental Illness
4. Comparables
A. Finding Us: A Mother’s Memoir of Braving Mental Illness with Her Young Daughter by Kristen Rohan Rehkamp.
B. Broken Brain Fortified Faith by Virginia Pillars.
Both of thses books deal with the struggles of managing and coping with a daughter’s mental
Illness.
5. Hook Line
A mother. Examines her own part in her daughter’s mental illness while facing the
challenges of dealing with the consequences of her daghter’s aactions over a 30 year period
in and out of hospitals.
6. Suzanne must fight her desire and need to be a good mother or accept that she has no power to change her daughter. She comes to the conclusion when her daughter refuses to get the mental help she needs after Suzanne begs her to get help for several hours. Her daughter instead escapes out the window of her home.
7. The Setting
The story begins in. the 1970’s in a beautiful home in Malibu , California overlooking a panoramic view of the Pacific Ocean and concurrently in Miami Beach, Florida at the University of Miami. The story continues for a 30 year span taking the reader to Santa Barbara, California, Boone, North Carolina, and a ranch in San Diego, California. The secondary setting occurs in numerous hospials and the streets of Southern California.
Part 3 The Beginning of The Rollercoaster of Mental Illness Through a Mother’s Lens: A Memoir
PROLOGUE
It's three o’clock in the morning. I am fast asleep. Lying next to me is my husband of twenty-five years. The phone rings. Little do I know my life is about to change. I answered the phone.
“Hello.” At the other end, I hear a jubilant, energetic voice.
“Hey, mom. What’s happening?”
“Liz, are you okay? It’s three in the morning.” I ask, both groggily and yet worried at the same time.
“Whoa, I’m great. Just been out rollerblading down by the beach. How are you?” she boasts.
“I was sleeping, is everything okay?” I ask again. “
Yeah, I just called to see how you’re doing.”
I decided to stay talking to her, instead of telling her I’m going back to bed, hoping that whatever is wrong, if something is wrong, she will eventually tell me. “Is school going, okay? How are you getting along with the other kids?”
I dropped her off at the University of Miami in Coral Gables only two months before. This was her dream school and the only one she was willing to attend. It was the university that all the beautiful girls and football stars attended, she bragged. She had applied for early admission and after being waitlisted for several months, she was finally accepted. Liz had not done well on her SAT’s and her grades were just above average. Going to the University of Miami would prove to her she was one of the “it girls.”
I was nervous to send her far away but excited that she got into the school of her choice. I also thought it would be a great experience to be away from home. We lived in Malibu in a beautiful ranch style home overlooking the Pacific Ocean. I thought the atmosphere at the school and in Miami would not be that much different from where she grew up her whole life, and she would acclimate well.
Liz tells me, speaking a mile a minute, “Everything’s great. I’m going to get into a sorority and I’m getting A’s in my classes. Oh, oh and I got a job giving samples of cigarettes on Miami Beach. They only pick the beautiful girls for the job. It’s kind of like modeling.”
“Liz, I don’t want you to be in a sorority your first semester or get a job for that matter, let alone that it is a job giving out cigarettes” I tell her, incredulously.
“Yeah Mom, but it’s the kind of cigarettes you used to smoke, so I think it’s a sign.” She tries to convince me. “Oh, did I tell you I’m going out with one of the football players? He’s Black.”
As I start to speak, she tells me she has to go and abruptly hangs up the phone.
I look at the receiver, like what has just happened. Was that my daughter I was just talking to? A quiet voice in my head tells me I should be concerned, but I quickly silence that voice and tell myself That was weird.
Dave, who has been listening to my end of the conversation, asks me, “What was that all about?” I quickly reassured him everything is okay, just a bizarre phone call from Liz at three in the morning. At this point, I wasn’t sure whether I should be concerned or was I just being overly paranoid. But a red flag went up in my mind.
“Can you believe she was out rollerblading at three in the morning?” I ask.
He doesn’t answer me and falls back asleep immediately. I on the other hand am up the rest of the night going over our conversation trying to understand why she didn’t think it was inappropriate to call in the middle of the night just to say hi and I was worried about her getting a job selling cigarettes. Little did I know this would be only the first of many conversations that would keep me up at night. And little did I know that my life was about to change forever, as was Liz’s.
Pitch Part 4
I was married for 27 years, living in Malibu, California with a son and a daughter living a relatively normal life. My children were fairly successful in school and their outside school activities. Both my children went to good colleges. Life seemed to be good and then all hell broke loose and my family life became a rollercoaster ride
Then my daughter, 18 years old and away at the University of Miami suddenly became mentally ill with Bipolar Disorder. My daughter must leave school and seek psychiatric treatment. She is given different mixtures of anti-psychotic drugs and go into a mental institution.
However, when she leaves the hospital she stops taking her medication and her hallucinations and psychosis returns. She engages in risky behavior by taking drugs and engaging prostitution. She lives on the street. She has two children which I must raise. I must do everything in my power to save her from herself and her mental illness.