“Blinded by Hope is the book that every parent should read, even if the child is not, like the son of the author, afflicted with both bipolar disorder and an addiction to illegal drugs. It explains a mystery: Why is it that a parent is reluctant to make their offspring accountable for their destructive behavior? Why do we consistently choose to believe their words over their actions? How are we blinded to the truth by our love and concern for them? Meg McGuire goes to the root of that magical thinking and tells us the story of how she broke the infernal cycle of hope-disappointment-shame-despair-hope. Over the years, she understands the deep-rooted reasons why she, as a mother, cannot stand the disconnection, how she is hooked on motherlove as if in the grip a drug. She has the courage to look at her truth.”
-Ginette Paris, PhD, author of Heartbreak, Mourning, Loss: Detach or Die
“Meg McGuire's brilliant and moving story Blinded by Hope returns repeatedly to the tough question of belief: Whose story does one believe? Whose rendering of reality does a parent accept from her child and from herself? When does hope blind one to the truth? The anguish aroused in struggling to read and act on the true story comprises the dramatic tension that shapes the relationship between McGuire and her son.”
-Dennis Patrick Slattery, author of Riting Myth, Mythic Writing: Plotting Your Personal Story
Meg McGuire is a mother, writer, psychotherapist and the author of several internationally published nonfiction books. She is an activist in mental health and criminal justice reform.
