Bestselling Author and Mental Health Advocate
I get emails every week from desperate parents seeking advice. Many have a son or daughter who’s been arrested. I remind them that I am not a lawyer, nor am I a social worker, psychologist or psychiatrist. I’m simply a father who became angry when my son got sick and I couldn’t get him meaningful help for his mental disorder.
The most common question that I am asked by other parents is:
How did you get your son to take his medication?
The answer is: I didn’t.
I have been inundated this week with emails, mostly from parents and family members, expressing frustration and anger about our broken mental health care system. 
Here is a sampling:
*You touched my heart today on Sunday’s CNN show. I tried to get my son help over and over. He is now in prison. .. What now? No education, no job, a criminal record….no help.
I had about five minutes to read, answer and then email my responses back to USA Today yesterday during a live, Internet chat about my article: Don’t Blame Jared Loughner’s Parents. 
It was the first time that I have ever participated in such an exchange with readers and I found myself scrambling to keep up. I was only able to answer about half of the questions that were sent to me. If you think five minutes is a long time to do this, well, then you are quicker than I am.
Here is a copy of the questions and my answers if you missed the discussion. For those of you who participated, thanks! I hope it was helpful.
USA TODAY is now accepting written questions for Pete . He will be answering them on line starting at 1:30 p.m. EST on Monday, January 17, 2011.
You can ask your question by clicking here. 
Pete’s Op Ed piece, Don’t Blame the Parents of Jared Loughner, has garnered more than 300 comments since it was posted Friday on the Internet. Many of the comments showed a profound ignorance about mental illnesses and the struggles that parents face when an adult child becomes sick.
What sort of questions will be asked Monday? Will you be asking one? Join the discussion, share your story, and help educate readers.
Pete Earley is the bestselling author of such books as The Hot House and Crazy. When he is not spending time with his family, he tours the globe advocating for mental health reform.
As a former reporter for The Washington Post, Pete uses his journalistic background to take a fair-minded approach to the story all while weaving an interesting tale for the reader.