Award-winning journalist Meg Kissinger writes with informative zeal and deeply mined memory in WHILE YOU WERE OUT. This chronicle of her family’s mental disorders and their many tragic results underscores her strong advocacy for those facing similar chaotic life conditions.

With seven siblings, Kissinger was apparently blessed in that her father had well-paid employment and her mother was a diligent stay-at-home wife. She went to Catholic schools, attended mass and other ceremonies, and enjoyed family vacation time. But she and her closest sibling, Patty, often experienced a dark side to their outwardly “normal” existence.

"WHILE YOU WERE OUT will be a revelation and a comfort to many. It also can be the focus of workshops and educational opportunities centered on the issues that Kissinger so courageously brings to light."

They became accustomed to being yelled at and threatened by their mother and beaten at random by their father, based on their parents' moods more than any serious infractions. Things began to happen. Once on a trip, their parents “miscounted” and left their brother, Jake, behind. Their sister, Nancy, tried to drown herself in the bathtub; Jake became increasingly depressed; and their brother, Danny, developed delusions and a fierce temper. Their mother took to excessive use of the best solace she knew --- alcohol --- and more than once mysteriously “disappeared” after a destructive binge. Their father also was an alcoholic and had what later would be diagnosed as bipolar disorder.

As Kissinger watched, she began to recognize her own symptoms of depression and trauma. She realized that among the 10 people so intimately connected, no one talked about what was afflicting them, even after two siblings committed suicide. Fortunately for Kissinger, these familial ills prompted her to become a journalist who took on the problems of the mentally ill as a personal campaign of investigation and reportage in her home state of Wisconsin and beyond.

Looking back on her troubled upbringing, and with contributions from among her surviving siblings, Kissinger --- who currently teaches investigative reporting at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism --- deftly entwines her painful family memories with her significant activism regarding outreach to those who may be suffering in silence. Aided by her persistence, psychological burdens have been brought to the public eye and relevant therapies now include open discussion and counseling. As times have changed, and such conditions that were seen so vividly among her family members have been identified and openly explored and explained, her quest has been greatly enhanced, leading to numerous awards.

WHILE YOU WERE OUT will be a revelation and a comfort to many. It also can be the focus of workshops and educational opportunities centered on the issues that Kissinger so courageously brings to light.