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Sentenced to Life: Mental Illness, Tragedy, and Transformation
Travel with one heartbroken family as they struggle to find help for their son, face unspeakable tragedy, receive unexpected forgiveness, and deal with the aftermath of a child whose mental health issues ended in calamity . . . and transformation. Discover the confidence that buoys author Joan Becker and her family as they push for reform in the broken mental health system before more lives are ruined. Their story offers hope, help, and heart-felt compassion.
"Joan Becker has a generous spirit and kind heart that come forward in this book. By sharing her family's experience she'll help other families struggling with mental illness feel less alone. That's a tremendous accomplishment when the illness causes feelings of isolation and hopelessness for parents who are desperate to help their suffering child. The mental health system can and should be better, and this book inspires all of us to do everything we can to make it so."
U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA)
"Joan Becker has a generous spirit and kind heart that come forward in this book. By sharing her family's experience she'll help other families struggling with mental illness feel less alone. That's a tremendous accomplishment when the illness causes feelings of isolation and hopelessness for parents who are desperate to help their suffering child. The mental health system can and should be better, and this book inspires all of us to do everything we can to make it so."
U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA)
- GenresNonfiction
160 pages, Paperback
Published April 1, 2015
12 people are currently reading
90 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
February 23, 2016
Great read
Living in Iowa, this story hit close to home. Thank you Joan for sharing this personal tragedy and letting outsiders read the struggle your family had with the mental health care situation. I hope your book helps to improve the quality of mental health care and will assist those families who need it better than the help you received!
Living in Iowa, this story hit close to home. Thank you Joan for sharing this personal tragedy and letting outsiders read the struggle your family had with the mental health care situation. I hope your book helps to improve the quality of mental health care and will assist those families who need it better than the help you received!
June 12, 2024
Had to read this book for a project for a class I am taking currently. Part of me is upset with my professor for putting this as a recommendation.
This book just comes off as misinformed, especially about mental illness like paranoid schizophrenia. The parents are absolutely moronic in believing that praying to God would cure their son of his schizophrenia instead of finding practical ways of getting their son the help he desperately needed. Are there gaps in the system? absolutely. This being said, Joan goes on to blame mental health professionals for not “doing enough.” She doesn’t provide solutions for this.
The journal entries and the God and prayer being shoved down my throat the entire time made me lose any interest in the book and honestly loses credibility for the author.
This woman claims she is an advocate for mental health awareness but it is honestly self-serving at this point.
This book just comes off as misinformed, especially about mental illness like paranoid schizophrenia. The parents are absolutely moronic in believing that praying to God would cure their son of his schizophrenia instead of finding practical ways of getting their son the help he desperately needed. Are there gaps in the system? absolutely. This being said, Joan goes on to blame mental health professionals for not “doing enough.” She doesn’t provide solutions for this.
The journal entries and the God and prayer being shoved down my throat the entire time made me lose any interest in the book and honestly loses credibility for the author.
This woman claims she is an advocate for mental health awareness but it is honestly self-serving at this point.
September 15, 2025
How do you help your son navigate Mental illness. This is a story of a young man who struggles with mental illness and the lack of help his family was able to get thru the Iowa health network. Yes, I did say Iowa, yet I’m sure we would find this problem in many other states. A lack of diagnosis, a disregard for the problems of the family, and then a total callous attitude after the fact. Because of the initial lack of a diagnosis a football coach is dead, and a boy/man will spend the rest of his life in prison. Finally, two families and a town will spend years trying to regain their lives.
January 23, 2024
This is unfortunately a great read for individuals that work in the policy and service arena for mental health. It shows the challenges and complete barriers that exist in trying to help an adult with mental illness. Tragic results for a small town in Iowa, however, it shows "Iowa Nice" and what it means to live and grow in a small town.
July 18, 2019
This book was very good at giving a window into mental illness. Joan Becker did not point fingers or lay blame, but showed how difficult it is navigating the mental health system and where it's weaknesses are.
I admired the her faith, and that of her family and community.
I admired the her faith, and that of her family and community.
April 20, 2022
This book is interesting, but I feel that it glosses over some details. She doesn't really describe the frustration that is felt when her son cannot get the help he needs for his mental health condition.
September 17, 2023
Really honest book of a mother's struggle with her son's mental illness. Very religious
February 5, 2024
Heartbreaking 💔
August 22, 2016
The heartwrenching story of a family who did the best they knew to help their son, who battles with paranoid schizophrenia. No specialized mental health crisis response was available in the evening when they picked up their son, no supported community living person was looking after him that they could determine. At their own peril, they took him back under their wings only to have him shoot the town hero in an effort to stop the voices in his head, and they narrowly escaped an even greater tragedy as Mark confesses toward the end. Joan has done her best to make sense of the non-sequitor of severe mental illness and offers a call to action, of the absolute exegiency to act with deep care for dispatchers, health care workers, politicians and others in a position to make a difference. She also connects those coping with mental illness to resources available to help. Suggested afterword: Changes in Iowa's mental health care system since the writing.
August 10, 2019
The prose and pacing reminded me the "Sacred Acre: the Ed Thomas Story". However, this book is much shorter and lacks the more descriptive narrative.
My favorite part of this book is the letter by Mark's father - about the day of the shooting. His letter was more descriptive than the majority of Joan Becker's narrative, which tends to be primarily about her feelings during her son's psychiatric attacks. My hope and expectations were that there would be more descriptions about Mark's struggles related to mental health care, and less text devoted to Joan's feelings and faith.
Faith is important of course, and the stories of the Thomases offering help and support for the Beckers, are amazing examples of faith in God, and forgiveness (and runs opposite to what this world would tell us to do). Again, I just expected that there was going to be more about Mark and mental illness.
My favorite part of this book is the letter by Mark's father - about the day of the shooting. His letter was more descriptive than the majority of Joan Becker's narrative, which tends to be primarily about her feelings during her son's psychiatric attacks. My hope and expectations were that there would be more descriptions about Mark's struggles related to mental health care, and less text devoted to Joan's feelings and faith.
Faith is important of course, and the stories of the Thomases offering help and support for the Beckers, are amazing examples of faith in God, and forgiveness (and runs opposite to what this world would tell us to do). Again, I just expected that there was going to be more about Mark and mental illness.
April 3, 2016
This book hit especially close to home for me because I live in Parkersburg and see Joan and Dave Becker around town.
I'm not going to lie. I was bawling for over half the book. I can tell that Joan Becker isn't exaggerating how well Parkersburg reacted. You can see it all over town and at the high school. Sometimes it was tears of sadness because of how much time and money Joan and Dave had put into helping Mark and to have it end with this tragedy. Sometimes it was tears of joy because of how our town is now because of it, and how much pride I can wear A-P shirt with.
This is a great honest book. I didn't know that this book even existed until I saw it in my teacher's classroom. I wasn't sure if I wanted to read because I knew it would be hard, but I'm glad I did.
I'm not going to lie. I was bawling for over half the book. I can tell that Joan Becker isn't exaggerating how well Parkersburg reacted. You can see it all over town and at the high school. Sometimes it was tears of sadness because of how much time and money Joan and Dave had put into helping Mark and to have it end with this tragedy. Sometimes it was tears of joy because of how our town is now because of it, and how much pride I can wear A-P shirt with.
This is a great honest book. I didn't know that this book even existed until I saw it in my teacher's classroom. I wasn't sure if I wanted to read because I knew it would be hard, but I'm glad I did.
October 23, 2015
Becker's memoir about her son Mark's descent into mental illness, ultimately resulting in his killing a beloved local coach. Contains excerpts from her own journal and letters from Mark and other family members. It's painful. She hopes - and I hope with her - that change occurs. That we talk more about mental illness, that we remove its stigma, that parts of the system work together, that people and families can receive the care they need.
April 9, 2016
A very emotional true story. It is a mother's heartbreaking story about her son who killed a high school football coach in a small Iowa town. Her son Mark suffers severe mental illness and could never get the help he needed. Mental health care is so hard to get today and this country is paying a heavy price for this.
June 10, 2017
An honest look at the failure of the mental health system that ended in tragedy. While I found the preaching in this book to be a bit annoying, it is heart-felt and a true representation of the author's thoughts and feelings. I can't wait to hear here speak at our library next month. It will be very interesting.
July 24, 2015
Absolutely gripping account of a family's experience with the onset of mental illness and navigating the mental health system. A must-read for all. Reading this book would help to affect the stigma related to mental illness in America.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews