Safe, Wanted, and Loved

"Anyone out there struggling to navigate mental illness should read this thoughtful book." -Former U.S. Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy, founder of the Kennedy Forum 

"Pat, we need to kill the dog." A chill ran down Patrick Dylan's spine as his wife spoke-psychosis had found their family again.

When a sudden mental illness struck his wife, Patrick Dylan found himself living with an eerie stranger. Scared and unprepared, he began a desperate battle to protect her from a mysterious disease, shelter their children from her bizarre behavior, and recover the woman he loved.

For years, Patrick and Mia Dylan enjoyed an intimate marriage that exemplified partnership. They worked together to create a loving home for their two children, enjoyed a close relationship with their extended family, and offered mutual support during hard times. But on the morning of Mia's thirty-ninth birthday, everything changed.

Within weeks, she had been admitted to the emergency room, the hospital, and the local crisis facility, but none of the experts could provide an answer. As her illness eluded diagnosis, the family's struggle was only beginning. A brave memoir in the tradition of Brain on Fire, Dylan's Safe, Wanted, and Loved is a compassionate, honest, and gripping account of a family navigating mental illness.

"Safe, Wanted, and Loved shares with gut-wrenching honesty and loving tenderness the challenges experienced by so many families dealing with mental illness, my own included. This story powerfully illustrates why afflictions of the brain should be treated with as much respect and compassion as other diseases, without fear of prejudice or shame." -Jessie Close, renowned author and mental health advocate

"A dramatic account, compellingly told as only someone who had lived through the ordeal could. In his first book, Patrick Dylan brings the skills of a veteran novelist to telling a story that illuminates the terrifying darkness of mental illness." -Paul A. Cantor, Clifton Waller Barrett Professor of English, University of Virginia

"Patrick Dylan has written a searing account of his wife's journey to the hell of mental illness and back. Her courage and her family's tenacity in never letting go of her hand, even in the worst of times, are beautifully rendered. This is a book you will not be able to put down." -Alexander Vuckovic, MD, medical director, The Pavilion at McLean Hospital