Sailing on Broken Pieces: Essential Survival Skills for Recovery from Mental Illness

Sailing on Broken Pieces is told from the triple perspective of a sibling, caregiver and emergency room doctor who treats people with mental illness in the emergency room and copes with the same concerns at home. It is told through vignettes from the emergency room intertwined with common symptoms of mental illness. The goal of Sailing on Broken Pieces is to eliminate the stigma of mental illness. Oscar winning Best Actress, Jennifer Lawrence said: ＂It’s just so bizarre how in this world if you have asthma, you take asthma medication. If you have diabetes, you take diabetes medication. But as soon as you have to take medicine for your mind, it’s such a stigma behind it.＂ Sailing on Broken Pieces is unique from this triple perspective of ER doctor, sibling and caregiver of a person with mental illness. One in 3 Americans (65 Million) is a family caregiver for persons with mental illness. Sailing on Broken Pieces provides strategies and insights on how to cope while providing support for their family member.

Dr. Gary Rhule is a board certified Internal Medicine physician, and healthcare management consultant. He worked for many years as an emergency room doctor where many persons are affected by physical illness, as well as mental illness. He honed the vital life skills to cope with mental illness as a result of working in the emergency room. He is interested in improving the mental health system, removing the stigma of mental illness, and closing gaps in health disparity. He was born in Jamaica, and has lived in the U.S. since his teenage years. He now lives in Connecticut with his family.