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About the Book
Nearly one in five Americans, 18 years and older, experienced a mental illness in 2018. One in five Americans older than 12 used an illicit drug, which includes misusing prescription opioids. If you are Jewish, there’s a good chance you’re thinking these statistics don’t apply to you. But they do. #QuietingTheSilence is a collection of personal stories and perspectives related to life-changing experiences involving mental illness and addiction. Through these stories of struggle and loss, we hope to show individuals that they are not alone and to work toward eliminating the shame and stigma many feel around these topics. Some of the stories may touch you directly or remind you of someone you know who has gone through a similar experience. The writers help provide insights and tips to educate people looking for some wisdom. In addition to the powerful stories, there are multiple resources for self-care, improving gratitude and joy, Jewish prayers for healing, national help hotlines, and a mental health glossary.
What is Quieting The Silence?
The Blue Dove Foundation created #QuietingTheSilence as a platform to help individuals and organizations create programs and events focusing on mental health and substance use. Our goal is to offer members of the community a chance to come together to share their own experiences in this arena.
We have found that hearing personal stories of struggles and loss directly from those living through them makes a stronger impact and helps foster new perspectives, personal connections, ideas, and hope. The stories come from individuals with a Jewish background who have gone through a life-changing experience, either personally or through a loved one. We hope by sharing them, we can show others with similar stories they are not alone. And we can begin to eliminate the shame and stigma many feel when it comes to mental illness and addiction.
We know accomplishing that goal will take time. It isn’t easy to speak out publicly. At times people wish to remain anonymous. Ideally, everyone would be comfortable sharing his or her name, but not everybody is ready. That’s OK. Telling their stories at all is a start, and the more we talk more about these issues, the faster we’ll get there.
Book Events
Consider working with us to co-create a program with you for your community/network/congregation. We can work to build a unique program including individual contributors from the book. Individuals can share their personal stories, how they received the help they needed and why they continue to share their story and the impact they want to make.
Each #QuietingTheSilence event is created uniquely for your community/network/congregation. Please reach out to us at info@thebluedovefoundation.org.
Book Clubs
Consider hosting a #QuietingTheSilence: Personal Stories book club. The powerful stories in the book are sure to lead to meaningful conversations.
Book Club Guide – CLICK TO DOWNLOAD