Schizophrenia: Three Moms in the Trenches

Nicole Drapeau Gillen is a mother, advocate, and author who translates the fast-moving landscape of technology in serious mental illness care into guidance families and clinicians can use. When she found herself thrust into caregiving for a loved one with serious mental illness, with no direction on how to help, she turned that into a mission, writing two books and building an ongoing effort to bring families and clinicians into the conversation.

Her first book, Schizophrenia and Related Disorders: A Handbook for Caregivers, is a reference for every stage of caregiving, endorsed by Dr. E. Fuller Torrey as a must-read for SMI caregivers. Her second, Connected Care: A Practical Guide to Technology for Serious Mental Illness, maps apps, AI tools, telepsychiatry, and brain-based treatments for a field moving faster than anyone can track — work the Director of the Johns Hopkins Schizophrenia Center, has said "directly addresses" a significant gap.