His family left the Philly area due to mental illness. Now a prominent psychiatrist, he came back to remind others they are not alone.

Mental illness had a lot to do with why Ken Duckworth’s family left the Philadelphia area. But for decades, no one in his family said it out loud.

Duckworth was 8 years old when he heard a commotion while playing in the basement of his family’s home in Glenolden. A police officer was taking his screaming father to the Philadelphia State Hospital at Byberry, a mental health hospital which has since shut down. It was one of many hospitalizations throughout his father’s life due to his bipolar disorder.

“He was loving and fun and gentle,” Duckworth said. “He was also extremely ill.”

A few months later, the family moved to Michigan. Duckworth later learned that his father’s employer transferred him to Detroit because of his hospitalization.

» READ MORE: When mental health crises require more than a phone conversation, these mobile units come to help

Duckworth is now the chief medical officer of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, a nonprofit based in Washington that promotes such projects as the 988 hotline phone number to curb suicide and assist in other mental health crises. Earlier this month, he returned to Philadelphia to discuss his new book, You Are Not Alone: The NAMI Guide to Navigating Mental Health.

You Are Not Alone is based on a series of interviews with 130 people with lived experience and 35 researchers. Duckworth’s goal was to create a guide that can help anyone touched by mental illness answer basic questions: Do I need help? Will I need to take medication for life? How do I get information to better understand my child’s moods?

Duckworth’s career path was shaped by his desire to understand what happened to his father and help him.

He also experienced firsthand how mental illness is treated differently from physical health issues. While in psychiatric residency, in his 30s, Duckworth was diagnosed with cancer. He received chemotherapy and took for his nausea the same medication that his father would take for his mental illness, an antipsychotic called Trilafon.

“I was treated like a hero,” he said.

The cancer diagnosis didn’t come with the shame and isolation that followed his father’s treatment with the same medication for bipolar disorder.

All of these experiences pushed Duckworth toward advocacy in addition to treating patients.

“You don’t have to be on your own,” he said. “You can learn from each other.”

One of the people whom Duckworth interviewed is Nicholas Emeigh from Bucks County. In a book event earlier this month at Head House Books, an independent bookstore in Queen Village, Emeigh shared his story.

As a child growing up in Levittown, Emeigh knew he wasn’t well. He had anxiety and developed an eating disorder. He was bullied in school and never felt that he belonged. After his mother died, he felt alone and attempted suicide.

“I was content with just destroying my own life until I came to NAMI,” he told the audience.

Emeigh was ultimately diagnosed with a schizoaffective disorder, which causes people to experience anxiety or depression with psychotic symptoms. He started taking an antipsychotic.

After his father died, he got in touch with the Bucks County affiliate of NAMI, which invited him to tell his story of recovery in a high school. He was embarrassed, but once he started sharing he realized that many others are dealing with similar issues. Often, people feel that they are alone.

“I don’t want other people to feel that way,” Emeigh told the audience.

» READ MORE: Paintings made during a lengthy hospitalization bring a Bucks County boy with autism new audience

Duckworth hopes the new book will answer people’s questions and make people remember that they are not alone.

He recognizes that speaking up takes courage.

In an obituary for his father, who died in 2006, the family debated which charity to include for memorial donations. Duckworth and his siblings advocated for NAMI, knowing it would let people know that their father struggled with a mental illness.

“My mother, who lived in shame and isolation her whole life, decided to pick NAMI for my dad,” he said. “I was so proud.”