Jill Billeter is an educator, a wife, and a mother of four. Her typical, middle class lifestyle and experiences, from childhood on, would be easily recognizable and familiar to many, but her struggles with depression and suicidality and her search for help ensnared and entangled her in the complex web of the American mental health system.
Jill highly values education whether it be formal or self-taught, and she admires those who use their knowledge and wisdom for the betterment of themselves and others. She finds human beings intriguing and devotes an enormous amount of time and energy trying to understand the actions and behaviors of people around her. She has learned much from listening to others and asking questions for which she could find no satisfactory answer in herself.
Writing has been a passion and an outlet for Jill since childhood. Retelling this story took many years and much encouragement from her best friend and supporter, her husband, Terry. The thought that it might shed some light for others seeking their own path through the confusing and often frightening construct of the behavioral health world convinced Jill to make it a public recounting.
Join Jill in conversation at ConsiderForAMoment.com
Available in e-book for Amazon Kindle, Barnes and Noble Nook, and Kobo and in print edition on Amazon.
Jill awakens in the mental health unit of Norfolk General hospital to the realization that she has failed once again to end her own life. To her way of thinking, it was unfortunate that the EMTs had managed to revive her from the overdose of powerful prescription drugs she had swallowed the night before. Her call to the suicide hotline would be considered by some a cry for help, but she just didn’t want to die alone.
How did it come to this? What has led her into this house of mirrors? How will she find her way out? Follow Jill’s journey into a world of counselors, doctors, hospitals, and psycho-pharmaceuticals and, ultimately, to the therapist who saves her. Please Don’t Ask Me Why is a powerful tale of one woman’s fight against the forces of depression and a tribute to the man who taught her the artful tools for her survival.
Praise for Please Don’t Ask Me Why
“Self-awareness is a journey. In my research on self-awareness it became clear that there are those rare individuals who are born with a high degree of insight, but the vast majority of us come to it through experience and living. It is a practice. In Please Don’t Ask Me Why, Jill Billeter’s self-awareness journey clearly shines through. She comes to understand herself and others through the patience and insight of one amazing therapist. She moves from darkness, rumination, and constant self-interrogation, to see from different perspectives and angles on not only her own life but on the motivations and behaviors of those around her. In this recounting of her struggles we see the birth of self-awareness and insight and travel with Jill in her newfound abilities to make use of the tools she is given or discovers for herself along the way. Please Don’t Ask Me Why is a book about hope and a companion guide of sorts for self-discovery.” Author Tasha Eurich, Insight
“In Please Don’t Ask Me Why, Jill Billeter leads us through a psychological minefield, an emotionally gripping and brutally honest journey of her own that quickly becomes ours. This can only be accomplished with the skills and courage of a gifted writer. In her memoir, Billeter pulls directly from her own heart and puts it on the page, giving us access to the most deeply private recesses of a young woman’s mind as she navigates the tumultuous terrain of the mental health system. We share her desperation during a seemingly never-ending and exhaustive search for hope and order. And ultimately, we find ourselves cheering for the survival of the human spirit…and for Jill. ” Author Helen Stine, The Truthful Story