So-Called Normal: A Memoir of Family, Depression and Resilience

A vital and triumphant story of perseverance and recovery by one of Canada&;s foremost advocates for mental health When Mark Henick was a teenager in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, he was overwhelmed by depression and anxiety that led to a series of increasingly dangerous suicide attempts. One night, he climbed onto a bridge over an overpass and stood in the wind, clinging to a girder. Someone shouted, &;Jump, you coward!&; Another man, a stranger in a brown coat, talked to him quietly, calmly and with deep empathy. Just as Henick&;s feet touched open air, the man in the brown coat encircled his chest and pulled him to safety. This near-death experience changed Henick&;s life forever. So-Called Normal is Henick&;s memoir about growing up in a broken home and the events that led to that fateful night on the bridge. It is a vivid and personal account of the mental health challenges he experienced in childhood and his subsequent journey toward healing and recovery.