Books/Film
Will’s Choice
“Will’s Choice” by Gail Griffith, Harper Collins, 2005.
Reviewed by Jason Halal 
Nobody in Will’s family anticipated what was to come. The 17 year old had grown up in a comfortable, upper-middle-class family in Washington, DC, with countless blessings: a loving family, attendance at a prestigious parochial high school and a delightful new girlfriend. Though Will suffered from depression, he had been put on medication and his mood seemed to have stabilized. Despite his medicated stability, one summer morning, his mother found him lying on his bed, unconscious, rambling and deathly ill. At first, she refused to admit it, but eventually she had no choice but to face the facts: her son had attempted to end his own life.
This is the story told by Gail Griffith in her first book, “Will’s Choice.” It is an account of a mother forced to deal with the ugliest of realities: the fact that “your child has rejected the life you gave him.” Luckily, Will’s antidepressant overdose was not fatal and he was left without physical or mental damage. What remained, however, was a family left distraught, struggling to understand what went wrong, how they could have missed his suicidal signs, and how to cope with the aftermath.
As it turned out, Will suffered from a major depressive disorder. Though he manifested no overtly suicidal symptoms, he was suffering beneath the surface. As Will puts it “I didn’t want to die. I just didn’t want to live anymore.”
Much more than an account of Will’s suicide attempt, “Will’s Choice”, is in fact many things: a mother’s attempt to understand and heal her child’s wounds, both imposed and self-inflicted, an examination of her family’s history, both in mental illness and in mental health, an honest and unflinching critique of the US mental health care system, and perhaps most important, a bold pronouncement of hope for parents and teens suffering from depressive disorders.
Much of the book is devoted to the teen depression crisis itself, such as the problem of distinguishing depressive teen behavior from “normal” adolescent behavior, a common problem considering that of the 3.5 million teens who suffered from depression in 1999, 80-90 percent of them go undiagnosed. The book is well stocked with such information and makes a very strong case for the lack of a mental health net to address teen depression and suicide.
It also deals with the staggering lack of resources available to both parents and teens suffering from this disease. Just how does a family whose child has attempted suicide wade through the often-conflicting sea of literature? And what about the families who can’t afford the costly treatment centers Will was fortunate enough to have been placed in? Griffith takes on these and many other questions. Although she doesn’t have the solution to every one of these problems, she does prompt a long-overdue dialogue on why so many parents and teens are left to find their way in the dark.
Where the book truly excels, however, is in conveying the strength and determination of the family to help Will out of his depression. At times the prose is delicate, as in her compassion for her ill son’s affliction. At others, it is bitter with the disappointment of a parent whose child has rejected the life she has given him. And sometimes, it simply asks questions in order to make sense of how a child with so many blessings could so swiftly attempt to end his life.
Despite the research and the well-informed opinions that Griffith arrives at, the heart of this story is with Griffith, the mother, and the whole family, who want simply the best for their son. This is expertly guided by Will’s immensely articulate journal entries, the author’s fine attention to her own emotions, and her immensely candid and occasionally humorous accounts.
We all want the best for our family, our children and others’ children. Perhaps “Will’s Choice” documents an exceptional family, but it is still a familiar one. In Will and his family, we cannot help but see ourselves and the hopes we have for our own loved ones. After all, says Griffith, “[this is] my child, my son, any mother’s son.”
Gail Griffith has performed an exceptional labor of love. She has taken two years out of her life, ending her office career, and devoted her time and attention to taking care of her suffering son. This may be an exceptional family, but it is one that is very familiar. But really, what parent wouldn’t do the same?
Jason Halal is the newest addition to the National Mental Health Association, having joined the Development and Strategic Alliances Team in early April. He grew up in Washington, DC and has a BA in English and Journalism from the George Washington University.
Jason K. Halal
Development Specialist
The National Mental Health Association
(703) 797-1943 jhalal@nmha.org
