Summary & Evaluation: Madness: A Bipolar Life by Marya Hornbacher

Dear Lit Lovers,
Well folks, I had heard and read a lot of praise about the book I just finished reading entitled Madness:  A Bipolar Life by Marya Hornbacher which has been out on book shelves since 2008.  It's usually listed as a highly recommended memoir so obviously I was anxious to read it and have my own reaction to it.  The book chronicles the author's early life experiences with bipolar disorder and it opens with a particularly gut-wrenching narrative of self-injury.  The author narrates her experiences with getting a correct diagnosis and treatment (or lack thereof) for what I know as manic-depressive disorder, also known as bipolar disorder.  Here's what struck me as interesting while reading this memoir:

1)  Ms. Hornbacher lives with a disease that causes her to vacillate between bouts of extreme mania or hyperactivity to bottom of the barrel lows or depressive episodes.  For many years because of a history of eating disorders, many doctors attempt to treat her for depression.  It was very obvious to me just from the way she wrote the sections about mania that she was enveloped in some time of overwhelming extreme euphoria.  Her rate of speech and writing was like rapid fire gunshots.  I could always tell when she was headed into a manic state by the fact that colors seemed more vivid to her, she was in a constant state of "need to go or be doing something".  And it didn't matter if what she was doing was hurtful to herself and others.  Drinking does not help this disease; I think it makes the effects of mania and depression ten times worse than it would be without getting inebriated.  There were times when the author would just disappear for a month at a time, drive recklessly, and not sleep for days.  Honestly, I knew she had to be exhausted from the mania because just reading about her exploits exhausted me and left me wondering:  would someone please prescribe this woman a sedative! 

2)  The hospitalizations the author receives in relation to bipolar disorder can be stretches of time that she doesn't remember which is truly scary.  Part of this memory loss is attributable to the electroconvulsive shock therapy she receives.  And it was truly fascinating the number of doctors she has seen regarding this disorder.  Some appear to understand the symptoms and treatment for this type of disorder better than others.  Usually, depending on whether she's highly manic or severely depressed, treatment involves adjusting her medications.  There are several occasions when she specifically tells a psychiatrist that she's in the midst of a hyper living mode and the psychiatrist just lets this information go in one ear and out the other while insisting on treating her for extreme depression.  Interestingly, the author generally knows when she needs help and what type of treatment is needed; however, there are times when a husband or friend has to nudge her gently to reach out for help. 

3)  There are moments when the author has total clarity about her illness.  She makes an appointment with a psychiatrist or willingly goes to the hospital for treatment.  Other times she decides that she will just stop taking her medication and self-medicate with alcohol.  Honestly, I think this would be an exhaustive to disorder with which to live.  And a patient never knows when their moods will suddenly swing one way or another on an emotional pendulum.  It was most apparent that folks with bipolar disorder appear to need and even structured daily schedule.  What appears most detrimental to their well-being is excessive amounts of free or unplanned time.  And then there's always the issue as I've seen with friends where an individual with bipolar disorder decides to not take their medications or worse, adjust the medications themselves by randomly increasing or decreasing their dosages. 

4) Are individuals with bipolar disorder more self-involved than the average person without the illness?  I would say so based on this book and the people I have known who have been diagnosed with bipolar disorder.  It's almost like they have to be constantly on alert for mood swings or emotional triggers that might send them into a tailspin.  It was especially interesting to see the author not really have any compassionate consideration for her husband and his depressive episodes; however, she readily recognizes that he goes above and beyond the call of compassionate consideration when she's in the grips of mania or depression.

A highly interesting read.  I will definitely be giving my copy of this book to a friend who is living with a significant other with bipolar disorder.  What might be also entertaining is for a loved one living with a bipolar patient wrote about the disease from their perspective.  Just a thought.

Grace