What’s on the nightstand?

I picked up Bebe Moore Cambell’s book 72 Hour Hold from the library the other day. (It was one of those deliciously tantalizing books on the shelf near the check-out stand. You know...the ones you can’t resist even though you’re carrying a stack of books so heavy it makes your chiropractor see stars.)

Not knowing anyone personally with a mental illness, I was interested in any insight on brain disease the fictional story might offer. I was pleasantly surprised to find a little of this and a whole lot more about the stigma of talking openly about health issues, mother-daughter relationships, highs and lows, ex-husbands and boyfriends, our woefully inadequate health-care system, and how a “perfect” life can be completely altered by something entirely beyond our control.

The book is named for the three-day maximum period that a mentally ill adult can be legally held in a public health facility if he/she demonstrates a danger to herself or others. In it, we meet Keri Whitmore, a successful black businesswoman struggling to care for her teenage daughter Trina, who has bipolar disorder. Repeatedly frustrated by the mental-health system’s ability to treat her daughter’s illness, Keri resorts to a radical (and illegal) program that offers the promise of freedom for Trina.

It’s a well-written story - so tight and believable that I kept checking to make sure it was a work of fiction. Through Keri’s eyes it’s easy to see how disappointing the ups and downs must be, how painful it must be to watch someone you love be tormented, and how impossible it is to see your perfect baby girl as the local crazy woman.

It’s only flaws are the insistance that the only cure for mental illness is medication (is it?) and a clunky metaphor that compares mental illness to slavery. Don’t let these deter you from reading the book, though. It’s a captivating and touching story - well worth the time.

Comments: