Madness

Instead of being defeated by madness, the Baltic Street Advocacy, Employment, and Housing staff in New York City built an agency that understands how to help those diagnosed with mental illness. In Madness: Heroes Returning from the Front Lines, author Joanne L. Forbes shares the story of Baltic Street AEH, one of the oldest and largest peer-run organizations in the United States-a unique agency whose success stems from knowing what it takes to come back from madness and how to show others the way. With more than forty years of experience in the mental health field, Forbes delivers a critical, yet sensitive, look into the psychiatric world through the eyes of those lured out of madness. The stories narrate how people escaped the cycle of repeated hospitalizations, lack of social support, poverty, stigma, and despair to build lasting relationships, homes, marriages, children, and contentment.