[nativechic]

Hi everyone--we selected "Madness: A Bipolar Life" by Marya Hornbacher for this month's book club discussion. I checked it out from the library but have not started it yet. Hope people can get a copy and start commenting on it in this thread.

[Coconutzo]

I loved this one. Fast, entertaining read and super relatable for me. ❤️

[nativechic]

Here is the publisher's blurb in case people are still not sure whether to read it:
When Marya Hornbacher published her first book, Wasted, she did not yet know the reason for her all-but-shattered young life. At age 24, Hornbacher was diagnosed with Type 1 rapid-cycle bipolar, the most severe form of bipolar disease there is. Here, in her trademark wry, self-revealing voice, Hornbacher tells her new story. She takes us inside her own desperate attempts to control violently careening mood swings by self-starvation, substance abuse, numbing sex, and self-mutilation. How Hornbacher fights her way up from a madness that all but destroys her, and what it is like to live in a difficult and sometimes beautiful life and marriage, is at the heart of this brave memoir. Millions of people in America struggle with a variety of disorders that may mask their true diagnosis of bipolar; also, Hornbacher's portrait of her own bipolar as early as age four will change the current debate on whether bipolar exists in children.

[Icare dixit]

Bipolar disease sounds scary. Diagnosing small children even scarier.

It's interesting to see how they changed that hyped-up self-endorsement, full of hyperbole, of a book, which is probably written (as usual, I suspect) by someone who hasn't read a word of it.

Mine speaks of the book delivering the revelation that BP exists, basically.

Does anyone else think BPD when reading this? Maybe co-morbid.

[Coconutzo]

I could totally see bpd. Some of the behavior is so attention seeking and over the top. That could be something else or just her personality but not all bipolar folk are combative and needy. It's interesting to see the extremes of bipolar illness and the variance from person to person with or without additional diagosis

[Icare dixit]

Originally Posted by Coconutzo

I could totally see bpd. Some of the behavior is so attention seeking and over the top. That could be something else or just her personality but not all bipolar folk are combative and needy. It's interesting to see the extremes of bipolar illness and the variance from person to person with or without additional diagosis

Yes, but then it wouldn't be a diagnosis masking the "true" diagnosis. It's just a bad situation getting worse (or arguably better).

Sounds interesting: not just BP, but also combative and needy (in another, infallible, way). It's Christmas!

[Icare dixit]

I hope it's a bit optimistic. I can handle stories about the strong emotions and consistent behaviour, the invincibility and ecstasy and deep despair and stifling, of mania and depression. Less so the pain of a muddled existence full of conflicting emotions and emptiness.

[Coconutzo]

I totally agree. I felt better after reading it rather than worse. Her sense of humor and the ease she writes with are great.
It's funny. I read wasted and it definitely had a different tone

[nativechic]

I thought it should have trigger warning--just so intense. Starting out with cutting herself almost scared me away from reading it so had to put it away for a few days and have been skipping around different parts of book. Very raw and gritty.

[Coconutzo]

Originally Posted by Icare dixit

Bipolar disease sounds scary. Diagnosing small children even scarier.

It's interesting to see how they changed that hyped-up self-endorsement, full of hyperbole, of a book, which is probably written (as usual, I suspect) by someone who hasn't read a word of it.

Mine speaks of the book delivering the revelation that BP exists, basically.

Does anyone else think BPD when reading this? Maybe co-morbid.

To bring this up again, I read her other book "wasted" and she was diagnosed bpd by several doctors. I'm assuming she didn't mention it in this book to keep the focus on the bipolar and make it a simpler read. Not that it really helped.