Saving Sammy

The summer before entering sixth grade, Sammy, a bright and charming boy, suddenly began to exhibit disturbing behaviors. His mother, Beth, already overwhelmed by the responsibility of raising three sons alone, watched helplessly as her middle child descended into madness. Sammy was soon diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and later with Tourette syndrome. Unwilling to accept the prognosis of lifelong mental illness and repeated hospitalizations, Beth fought to uncover the cause. Her quest took her to the center of the medical community's raging debate about whether mental…