The Broken Road

We titled the book The Broken Road: Story of Our Son's Drug Addiction and Mental Illness because of the difficulties and struggles Mary and I faced during our sixteen-year effort to help our son who was mentally ill and addicted to drugs. Many times we thought we were headed in the right direction in dealing with Frank's mental illness and drug addiction. But that was not always the case. We were given directions that were misleading. Frank made promises that he did not keep. We have a legal system in Washington where guardians have little or no authority in making decisions for the incapacitated person. We have a health system in Washington that is inadequate in helping the mentally ill because the incapacitated person can only be hospitalized involuntarily if they are a "danger to themselves, others, or property." And we have a legal system that does not severely punish drug dealers. These difficulties and struggles led to a road that did not help Frank enough with his mental illness and drug addiction. It was a road that was difficult to navigate. It was a road that was not smooth and straight, and it was a road with many roadblocks. It was a broken road!