NY woman reveals life with a sister's schizophrenia, writes 'love letter' to her

Kyleigh Leddy of New York City spoke to Fox News Digital about her beloved older sister — gone too soon after a diagnosis of schizophrenia — and why Leddy wrote a new book about her family's experiences with mental illness.

"I think it's really important to put a name and a face on [mental illness], and try to translate this very confusing, scary disease into something that is more accessible." "If you're just constantly dealing with the next crisis, you're not taking time to keep yourself in a healthy place. You have to put your life vest on first, so to speak." "Mental illness is real. It's a neurological condition. Something like schizophrenia or bipolar disorder — they're not that different from Alzheimer's. These are brain-based disorders that people are going through." "They're looking at you because you're beautiful," Mom reassured [Kait] countless times. "Not because anything is wrong with you." "What would people think about a psychotic disorder? Who could truly understand it?" 

But Kyleigh Leddy has done so poignantly in a new book, "The Perfect Other." The book sheds considerable light on mental illness and how, bit by bit, it took a beloved sister away from her family emotionally, psychologically and ultimately physically.  

"She is nowhere tangible," writes Leddy in her personal account, "which is to say that she is everywhere."