How to Enjoy Life with Bipolar Disorder

About the Book

“Timely and well-written” Dr. Robert Zondervan, Ann’s Psychiatrist

“I put the book by my bed for some light reading, then I stayed up to read it all. Everyone at the clinic finds it a fascinating look at Bipolar Disorder from the patient’s viewpoint.” Betsy Watchkey, Ann’s Therapist

This is the story of a twelve-year-old girl who comes down with a severe mental illness that is not correctly diagnosed for seven years. She cycles through chaotic manias and debilitating depressions until she is hospitalized four times and diagnosed as Bipolar. Then she begins a long road to recovery and a fufilled and happy life. She describes the illness as terrifying and all-consuming. Most of all she had no control over when it would invade her live and devastatingly rock her world. In 1969 lithium was first used in the United States and it proved to be a miracle drug for Ann and for many others. Hospitalization and therapy were required. Ann worked hard with her doctors and therapists and now leads a triumphant life.

About the Author

Ann was raised in Pacific Palisades, California. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Architecture and worked for four architects in her twenties then taught high school for twenty-five years. She is married and living in Southern California. She has two children and two grandchildren. She is working on a biography of her three brothers and a study on dreaming.