Bipolar Biographies

Finished reading "Gorilla and the Bird" by Zach McDermott.  Very good descriptions of bipolar, especially how it feels to be manic- how out of control you can feel.  It's also about his mother and his childhood.  His mother always stopped what she was doing to come be with him, even if it meant buying an airplane ticket that same day.  Before that, I read "Madness" by Marya Hornbacher.  You really get the big picture of how it is to have bipolar disorder with this book.  Very visceral.   From a self-harm episode that went really wrong, to her drinking too much, and for both of them their hospitalizations and the wild rides that went along with being locked up- sometimes literally!  I'm about to start reading "Electro Boy" by Andy Behrman.  I remember that his mania was over-the-top like McDermott's, and it was almost scary to read.  I've seen interviews online of Behrman.  He's very awkward.  (He's not awkward in his book.)  There's also "Manic" by Terri Cheney, also great at getting across how it feels to be manic, but the way she writes kind of heightens the situations she's in.  Zach McDermott's descriptions of his episodes really make you feel as if you are there in person watching what he's describing.  After "Electro Boy" I think I might try "Haldol and Hyacinths: A Bipolar Life".  I didn't really like what she wrote about her life -the hyacinths part.  Then there's "An Unquiet Mind" by Kay Redfield Jamison. I didn't find it all that riveting It's very flat and she has this small obsession with lithium.  (I saw her in a movie about a couple of bipolar people who fall in love.  They go to a coffee shop and sort of interview Ms. Jamison.  Even then, she praises lithium!)  It's a very technical read.  Doesn't really draw me in like "Gorilla and the Bird" has. Compared to all of these people, I'm pretty boring.  I don't have ultradian cycling- that's several episodes a year.  I get episodes maybe once a year, and sometimes not even that.   If I find any more bipolar biographies, I'll be sure to update this post!