Breakdown includes fifteen testimonials from well-known professionals, including attorneys, psychiatrists, authors, and professors! Lynn Nanos is a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker who has a lot of experience as a full-time mobile emergency psychiatric clinician in Massachusetts. After graduating from Columbia University with a Master of Science in Social Work, she worked as an inpatient psychiatric social worker for approximately seven years. Nanos is an active member of the National Shattering Silence Coalition that advocates for the seriously mentally ill population. Book Launch Party - Dialogue on Breakdown with Guests October 21, 2018 - Norwalk Inn & Conference Center, Norwalk, CT: GUEST: What inspired you to write the book? LYNN: I had done mental health advocacy work on a national scale for years and was very inspired by their stories. Their stories motivated me to try harder at what I do, and I didn’t feel that my employment was enough of a difference in the world, and had come across so many dramatic shocking stories that all of a sudden it dawned on me that the world has to know these stories. They’re so shocking that very few people are aware of the population and what they struggle with. GUEST: How long did you work on your book every day? LYNN: Well most of the work was done on the weekends because my employment is Monday to Friday. I decided to write the book in December of 2016. I gave up most of my hobbies. I found it a love of labor. It might sound odd to some people, who, as my brother said, you know most people - they want to forget about work when they go home - they don’t want to do work, but I have felt so passionate about caring for the sickest of the sick, that it was something that I truly loved doing. GUEST: Does your boss know about your book and how will it impact your career? LYNN: The bosses are aware of the book. They are aware that it’s controversial. It’s controversial because it requests a revision of the current commitment laws. It also gets into detail about the rights of patients and whether patients have the right to be psychotic. A lot of administrative staff, and even clinicians, often say that they cannot help this population because they have the right to be psychotic and do bizarre things, and that the civil commitment law should only be enforced if someone is about to imminently die. But the problem with that is it’s not a preventative approach and there have been many instances, including two that I detail in this book, in which people have been killed because of the poor laws..the lack of laws that exist. How will it impact my career? I still have a job. Let’s put it that way. GUEST: What was your favorite part of the process, and least favorite part? LYNN: My favorite part was running into technological difficulties (everyone laughs). My favorite part was writing the case vignettes and doing the research. My least favorite part was making sure that all the citations - all the references at the back of the book - there are approximately 350 of them, were good - that was very painful to do. I also found waiting for other people - for example waiting for the formatting professionals to come through, waiting for the illustrator to finish, prompting him to ensure that the illustration is perfect. So depending on other people was the hardest. GUEST: What advice would you have to anyone who is interested in publishing a book, given now that you’ve gone through it? LYNN: Being organized is critical. I don’t believe that anyone who’s disorganized, unless they have billions of dollars and can hire someone to do it for them - I don’t believe it’s possible to do it without being very organized and disciplined, and truly wanting to do it is a key factor. Lynn can be contacted through www.LynnNanos.com or by emailing her at breakdown@lynnnanos.com.