Zig-Zag Boy: Mental Health and Motherhood with Tanya Frank

Dr. Dan speaks to writer and mother Tanya Frank about her new book ZIG-ZAG BOY: A Memoir of Madness and Motherhood.  Tanya and Dr. Dan discuss Tanya’s compassionate, heartrending memoir about her quest to understand her son’s journey through psychosis. 

One night in 2009, Tanya Frank finds her nineteen-year-old son, Zach—gentle and full of promise—in the grips of what the psychiatrists would later label a psychotic break. Suddenly, Tanya is thrown into a parallel universe: Zach’s world, where the phones are bugged, his friends have joined the Mafia, and helicopters are spying on his family. In the years following Zach’s various and changing psychiatric diagnoses, Tanya struggles to find support while navigating broken mental healthcare systems, first in California and then in her native London during lockdown.

Dr. Dan and Tanya discuss this compelling story about mental health and the power of a mother’s love. This episode is an important listen for May and Mental Health Awareness Month because the discussion will help families dealing with many diverse and difficult parenting experiences and circumstances. 

Today’s show is a powerful and provocative exploration of love, acceptance, mental illness, and fear.