These stories reflect the writers' struggles to overcome the challenges presented by depression, bipolar disorder, OCD, and other mental disorders. The narratives communicate the rewards of helping patients move forward with their lives, often through a combination of medication, talk therapy, and common sense.

Introduction:What works when nothing has worked? / Peter D. Kramer -- Editor's note: Overcoming institutional failure / Lee Gutkind -- Foreword: Beyond despair: the gift of recovery / Karen Wolk Feinstein -- Playing cards with Mr. Newman / J. Timothy Damiani -- Hope nurtures the dream / Ronald Bassman -- Inside / Don Tomasulo -- Paradise/Lost / Jennifer Lunden -- What would my mother say? / Annita Sawyer -- The dictator in my head / Kurt Warner -- In Minnesota, once: on anorexia, masculinity, and recovery / Owen Vince -- Jeannie / Miriam Mandel Levi -- An American boy / Candy Schulman -- I'm not a noun either / Tom Mallouk -- Indistinguishable chairs / Cassie Eaton -- Salvaging parts / Olga-Maria Cruz -- Hitbodedut / Catherine Klatzker -- Live a little / Ellen Holtzman -- Illusions of wellness / Katherine Sheppard Carrane -- Stalker / George Drinka -- No hope? Don't believe it / Sharron Hoy -- Came down a person / Ella Wilson.