Excerpt from Book:

This is an in-depth look at the heart-wrenching and insidious nature of childhood mental illness and the efforts of one family to help their quite desperate little boy. Unfortunately, the book is now out of print.

I just finished reading "Mommy, I Want To Kill Myself" and it was so riveting that I sat there with my heart pounding in my chest. The young hero of the book was meant to survive, and he helped himself! A lesser soul would have perished, even with guardian angels all around him. Unfortunately, much more needs to be done about mental illness, but if one child can be saved, as this child was, the struggle is worth it. Ercille Christmas, author of "Thoughts of A Proud American" (www.authorhouse.com)

***** I thought I was going to look through Joan Swirsky's book for a few minutes, but a few minutes became two hours. I couldn't put it down. It reads like a suspense novel, full of the tragedy - and also triumph - that one only finds in real life, a story told with compelling drama and heart-wrenching imagery that proves the old adage that life is not for sissies. An amazing story! Lyle Rossiter, M.D., psychiatrist and author of The Liberal Mind: The Psychological Causes of Political Madness (Free World Books, 2006)

***** As parents, we feel guilty for any unhappiness in our children's lives. But Joan Swirsky's book should make every parent, pediatrician, and psychiatrist take a second look at young children whose behavior is deviant from an early age and rethink their preconceived notions. No doctor wants to medicate a child, but as "Mommy" points out, in some cases it can be both appropriate and life changing. Eric Gould, M.D., New York pediatrician and specialist in pediatric developmental issues.

***** Joan Swirsky's book is a riveting account of a young boy who was eventually diagnosed with bipolar disorder and found healing and peace despite the antagonism of many "helping professionals" who were better at blaming the mother than helping the child. A must read for parents and concerned professionals alike. George Lynn, author of "Survival Strategies for Parenting Children with Bipolar Disorder"

***** Mommy, I Want to Kill Myself is a poignant account that examines the guilt, aching sorrow, and desperation faced by those who love and want to help a mentally ill child. It is a beautifully told story that, unfortunately, I, and many other moms, know only too well from the inside out. Judith S. Lederman, author of "The Ups & Downs of Raising a Bipolar Child: A Survival Guide for Parents"

***** Among the most devastated people in my practice are parents whose children are not just unhappy, but deeply disturbed. Joan Swirsky's can't-put-down book has illuminated the plight of children with mental illness, which - in too many cases - has more to do with aberrant genes than bad parenting. This book is an invaluable resource for all parents who battle "the system" every day to save their children's lives. Judith Ehrenfeld, Ph.D., R.N., C.S.