Because I Come from a Crazy Family : The Making of a Psychiatrist

When Edward M. Hallowell was eleven, a voice out of nowhere told him he should become a psychiatrist. A mental health professional of the time would have called this psychosis. But young Edward (Ned) took it in stride, despite not quite knowing what "psychiatrist" meant. With a psychotic father, alcoholic mother, abusive stepfather, and two so-called learning disabilities of his own, Ned was accustomed to mad and unpredictable behavior from those around him, and to a mind he felt he couldn't always control.

The voice turned out to be right. Now, 55 years later, Hallowell is a leading expert on attention disorders and the author of twenty books, including Driven to Distraction, the work that introduced ADHD to the world. In Because I Come From a Crazy Family, he reflects back on his childhood, marked by what he calls the WASP triad of alcoholism, mental illness, and politeness, and tells the story of how a family of drunk, crazy, preoccupied, and well-intentioned eccentrics led Ned to an inspiring and celebrated career as a psychiatrist. He explores the wild wish, surging beneath his incredible drive and ambition, that he could have saved his own father and mother, their troubled marriage, his siblings, and himself.

Because I Come From a Crazy Family is an affecting, at times harrowing, ultimately moving memoir about crazy families and where they can lead, and a coming-of-age story--of searching for and finding a safe place. Finally, it's a book about being called to the mental health profession, and the unending joys and challenges that come with helping people celebrate who they are.

Featured in the August 2018 Psychology newsletter.
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