Non-fiction

The book is a memoir of a life lived overshadowed by bipolar disorder, which affects all aspects of a person's existence. From the time she was a small child, the author was affected by the illness and lived with and fought it all her life.

Sugar & Salt: My Life with Bipolar Disorder is the story of an ordinary person who lived with and ultimately overcame bipolar disorder (manic-depression.). She was not diagnosed until she was 37. She describes what it is like to be raised in a family overshadowed by the illness, and to try to fit in in school and to function at work with the undiagnosed disorder. The failure of a marriage and relationships are detailed, and she struggles to understand why her life is so different and so difficult, until she has a sudden revelation that something is wrong with her and that she needs help.

Then comes the long fight to get treatment as she tries medication after medication after being misdiagnosed as psychotic. For five years she seeks knowledge and understanding of the disorder that makes her suffer. In a dramatic turn, Jane realizes she must enter a mental hospital to get the treatment she needs. She describes life in a locked ward, and how her doctor finally finds the medication her disorder responds to. She feels she has been given the key that lets her out of the hell the mood disorder has kept her in all her life, and for the first time, she feels "normal."

After the hospital, Jane has to face the world again and start a new life. She is able to work for years without her employers discovering her secret. However, after ten years, she develops an allergy to the medication that has served her so well and must start the process over again. During this process, she loses her dream job and falls back into depression. She had to fight her way back to stability again, and back to living a life not bedeviled by the disorder at the center of it.

A story of ultimate triumph over bipolar disorder; find out how she did it and how you, too, can manage the disorder through medication and therapy.

The main characters of the book are the author, Jane, her parents, her boyfriends and ex-husband, and the friends who helped her live with the disorder. How they helped (and hindered) in her growing realization that she had the illness and in coping with it are a central part of the story.

This book will appeal to readers because it tells a story of struggle, of failure, but of ultimate triumph as the author slowly learns her way though the world of bipolar disorder. It is not a tale of climbing the ladder of success, but of a winding trail that is sometimes upward, but that ultimately leads her to her goal of stability and understanding of an illness she must live with and manage for the rest of her life.

The target audience is people with bipolar disorder who have traveled this road, especially those who are having difficulty accepting their diagnosis or who have lost faith that they can ultimately reach stability and peace. I also believe that family members and friends of those with bipolar disorder could gain understanding and knowledge from the book.

>>> Also, be sure to check out my other book:
>>> The Rookie's Guide to Bipolar Disorder

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