As a 15-year-old, struggling with severe bullying, ADHD, adoption trauma, and undiagnosed autism, Meg became one of the unfortunate 120,000-200,000 youths who are funneled into the lucrative Troubled Teen Industry (TTI) every year. Over the next 3.5 years Meg was abused in two separate facilities that masqueraded as "treatment".
Over two decades later, Meg Appelgate has evolved into an advocate, activist and passionate spokesperson for survivors across the United States. In Becoming UNSILENCED, she details the institutional abuse she and her peers suffered and what led her to where she is today.
Deeply rooted in lived experience, Becoming UNSILENCED exposes the lack of institutional accountability and safeguards within the Troubled Teen Industry. It also confronts the tendency to pathologize typical adolescent behaviors, questions the effectiveness of "tough love" approaches, addresses deeply ingrained social issues, challenges faulty belief systems, and explores more healthy alternatives for desperate families.
Becoming UNSILENCED is a highly personal and invaluable first-hand account written for survivors and their parents, as well as for decision-makers and health professionals suggesting life-altering interventions for troubled teens.