For the first time, mental health recovery books for Texas prisoners

We are pleased to announce a new relationship with Texas Prison Bookstore.

Our readers are aware of the criminalization of people with mental illness. Poverty, trauma, substance abuse, mental illness, and school failure work together to create the notorious "school to prison pipeline."

What can we do to help people rebuild their lives?

Stress and trauma reduce a person’s “executive functioning” – the type of cognitive capacity that lets us figure out what to do when the path is unclear – as well as “social connectedness” and capacity for emotional self-regulation. The challenge of recovery and re-entry involves restoring these capacities.

Defying Mental Illness delivers information about what people are facing, plus tools and strategies to help people make progress in their lives.

We want to make our books available to people in correctional facilities across the US. If you know of a book distributor that serves this population, please send an email to:

paul.komarek (at) humanintervention.net

Defying Mental Illness authors are bloggers too

Over the course of the past year we have been blogging pretty steadily.

Our blog Redesigning Mental Illness is our shot at social innovation. What can change the experience of mental illness in America? We think ordinary people can rediscover their capacity to support mental and emotional health. We've also been writing about the connection between gun violence and mental health. Some of this writing has found its way into the 2013 edition of Defying Mental Illness.

Recently we've launched a new blog called Grassroots Educator. Here we focus on the educators in American society who never send out report cards. Think about child care workers, afterschool program workers, mentors, adult education workers, workforce development program instructors. What can we do to help kids and adults achieve success in life? Our first posts focused on justice systems in schools. We think the answer to bullying is not a set of rules or an assembly program -- it's a commitment to justice within schools and communities.

And then there is the so-called microblogging -- for updates on mental health, education and social justice issues follow @pkomarek on Twitter.

A new interview and feature on our 2013 update

Lorna d'Entremont of Special Needs Book Review has the most comprehensive set of books to help parents and teachers support the needs of children with disabilities. We are happy to support her work. There's a new review of our 2013 update on her site, along with an interview about our project.

This new edition has 240 pages; therefore, it is a major update aimed at creating  a social support for people with mental health concerns. Like their first edition, their updated edition is an excellent resource to help families and friends support their loved one through mental illness, to recovery, and for some, to a thriving life. It is also a great self-help book and my copy of their first edition of Defying Mental Illness is in the hands of a friend with bipolar disorder.

Defying Mental Illness is a guide book to recovery from mental illness. It is simply written for all families, friends or the individuals themselves who are looking for advice about the steps to take when mental illness is taking all they have… zest for life, relationships, friendships, career, and a happy childhood and school years.

Read the complete new review here:

http://www.specialneedsbookreview.com/2013/02/04/defying-mental-illness-2013-edition-finding-recovery-with-community-resources-and-family-support/

A Top 20 Book for Parents

Defying Mental Illness has been named one of the "Top 20 Books on Parenting or Teaching Children with Special Needs" by Special Needs Book Review. 

Defying Mental Illness: Finding Recovery with Community Resources and Family Support   -by Paul Komarek & Andrea Schroer A guide book to recovery from mental illness. It is simply written for all families, friends or the individuals themselves who are looking for advice about the steps to take when mental illness is taking all they have… zest for life, relationships, friendships, career, and a happy childhood and school years. Families and friends have a role in the recovery process and this book has essential information to help people with symptoms and family members collaborate and support each other.  Review  (This review is of based on their first edition of  2010. Congratulations on their 2013 second edition!)

Publisher's Weekly likes our book

The technology of digital publishing and print-on-demand makes it possible for us to make our books available. It's also made marketing books even more competitive. Fewer than 20 percent of books listed in Publisher's Weekly's program for independent publishers ever get reviewed.  We're grateful for the review we received.

Defying Mental Illness
Paul Komarek and Andrea Schroer
Church Basement Press, $19.99 paper (246p) ISBN 978-1-4793-6946-1
For the uninitiated, mental illness can be confusing, vexing, and even terrifying. Komarek and Schroer present educational and resource material for people suffering from psychiatric maladies and those supporting them. In basic terms and scope, the authors seek to demystify mental illness. Chapters on recognizing symptoms and managing disorders, as well as treatments for both adults and children are enhanced with case histories and quotes from people who lucidly recount experiences with such maladies as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Readers would be wise to recognize that Komarek and Schroer are not clinical professionals, but teachers with compassionate and enthusiastic intentions. And while their approach to and perspectives on mental illness are well-meaning, readers who find themselves (or a family member) in the throes of a psychiatric condition would be wise to seek the advice of professionals before diagnosing or treating their own symptoms. This book is mainly a useful primer for those looking to understand mental illness.

Here's the link to  Publisher's Weekly's full coverage of independently published works.

Defying Mental Illness Authors Present at Northern Kentucky Counselor's Association Meeting

Paul Komarek and Andrea Schroer presented at the Northern Kentucky Counselor's Association, December 2, 2011.

Their three-hour workshop focused on how conversations change lives, demonstrating techniques that help people generate possibilities and build commitment. These techniques are built into Defying Mental Illness: Finding Recovery with Community Resources and Family Support.