My Self

'MY self', an autobiography of survival by Kelley Kitley, LCSW. "By 2015, approximately 1 in 25 adults in the U.S.-10 million-experienced a serious mental illness in a given year that substantially interfered with or limited one or more major life activities," Chicago Psychotherapist Kelley Kitley will tell you; adding, "I should know, I was one of them." Indeed, approximately 1 in 5 adults in the U.S.-43.8 million-experiences mental illness in a given year. Additionally, mood disorders, including major depression, dysthymic disorder and bipolar disorder, are the third most common cause of hospitalization in the U.S. for both youth and adults aged 18-44. Left untreated, the resulting symptoms range from alcoholism and drug addiction to incarcerations, homelessness and suicide. Despite these statistics, nearly 60% of adults with a mental illness didn't receive mental health services in the previous year. Why be alarmed? The majority of those living without treatment are women, despite the fact that along a spectrum that includes generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, specific phobias, posttraumatic stress disorder and major depressive disorder, women are twice as more likely to be affected than men. In 'MY self', debut author, columnist, speaker, and social worker Kelley Kitley shares a near mythical Phoenix rising tale of triumph against easily considered insurmountable odds, such as an eating disorder, sexual assault and alcohol abuse that plunged her deeper into the abyss. Far from another crash and burn autobiography of grief, 'MY self' lays bare the vulnerability and isolation unique to Kitley, and to women in general, while revealing the transformation of loss into a surplus of riches beyond even the very author's wildest imagination.