Picking Up the Pieces, But Not in Twelve Steps: By The Prodigal Son’s Brother

“Today, I was denied treatment by a mental health facility. I set the appointment up through a crisis hotline a month ago, and thinking I was finally going to get help was the glimmer of light on the horizon … and I was denied treatment. They recognized that I had severe depression. They recognized that I was suicidal… But still they denied me therapy, because they said a prerequisite was for me to complete their 12-step-based alcoholism program.”