John and Jill DePaola met Patrick Kennedy at a leadership lecture at LHAAMC. His book combines Kennedy’s professional and personal stories and focuses on the time between his problems became public and the present day. “A Common Struggle” takes a long look at Kennedy’s journey toward his own recovery and analyzes the American tendency to treat mental illness as something that stays out of sight as a family secret.



In addition to discussing his own story, Kennedy seeks to provide a plan to bring equality to the mental health community and create a plan for the future of mental health policy. This book works as a call for empathy for a situation that affects many families as well as a call to action.