“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? Maureen Murdock 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

“Maureen Murdock'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 Murdock and her son.”

-Dennis Patrick Slattery, author of Riting Myth, Mythic Writing: Plotting Your Personal Story

“Blinded By Hope is the finest memoir of family-enmeshed addiction I know. The author’s slow discovery and recognition of her son’s bipolar illness and substance abuse over twenty years forms the core of this pulse-quickening tale, its point, the blind, unending dance between addict and enabler. Somehow this book sustains both critical witness and enduring love. Such honesty about the ambiguities of parental devotion is rare: compassionately narrated by Murdock, it’s a heroic achievement.”

—Thomas Larson, author of The Sanctuary of Illness: A Memoir of Heart Disease

“If you think addictions and mental illnesses are distinctly separate or unrelated diseases, let Maureen Murdock’s book set you straight. This story of a mother who battles her son’s substance abuse and bipolar disease will take you into the experience and mind of a dually diagnosed addict and his family. From the streets to psychiatric hospitals to prison and back and forth again, Murdock hurls you onto a jolting roller coaster ride—yet glides to a smooth, hopeful finish.”


—Lonny Shavelson, Physician and author of Hooked: Five Addicts Challenge Our Misguided Drug Rehab System