I Am Not Silent

It took a family tragedy of immeasurable proportions to bring author Gail Schmidkunz face-to-face with one thing he realized he had neglected to teach his children—what to do if you are detained by the police. This left his son, Zach, unprepared for the horrible ordeal that awaited him while dealing with the side effects of abruptly ceasing a drug used for treating depression. It was an event that would change their lives forever. The Schmidkunzes, a Christian, middle-class family, were immensely proud of their son, Zach, as he headed off to college. Zach had always been an easygoing young man who had never displayed an outburst of anger. When his grades began to plummet during his freshman year, Zach returned home to begin a different path. But, as his father details, it was not long before Zach’s personality changed. He became reclusive, withdrawn, and suicidal; he was eventually prescribed Zoloft, an antidepressant that everyone trusted to be safe. It is only when Zach’s parents discovered a body behind their couch and no sign of Zach that they realized they were in the midst of a nightmare instigated by side effects of the very drug they thought would help their son. I Am Not Silent shares the true story of one family’s faith-filled, life-changing journey through depression and the subsequent after-effects of a prescription antidepressant that sheds much-needed light on the frightening issue of drug-induced insanity.