Detour: My Bipolar Road Trip in 4-D

by Lizzie Simon

Book Overview

By all appearances, Lizzie Simon was perfect. She had an Ivy League education, lots of friends, a loving family, and a dazzling career as a theater producer by the age of twenty-three. But that wasn't enough: Lizzie still felt alone in the world, and largely misunderstood. Having been diagnosed with bipolar disorder as a teenager, she longed to meet others like herself; she wanted to hear the experiences of those who managed to move past their manic-depression...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0743446607
• ISBN13: 9780743446600
• Release Date: June 2003
• Publisher: Atria Books
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.46 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.4" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

A review from inside a like Bi-Polar mind

A friend of mine insisted I read this book, knowing I was in a serious downward spiral cycle and desperately needed to come out of it. I wish I read this years ago. I am 27 years old and was diagnosed with bi-polar two years ago. I am a mother of two. My eldest is nine and my youngest a year and a half. For a long while, years, I was successful. I worked two jobs, went to school, managed a law firm, became a paralegal, did criminal defense, passed the LSAT, all the while being a mother and of course, sabotaging every relationship I had, eventual spiraling out of control, ... you get the idea, I'm sure. Because of this book, I am now on the right track. I had talked myself completely out of my diagnosis, as a result becoming much more insane and out of control, until one day I decided to just crack the book...see what my friend was raving about. Lizzie's description of her breakdown, the way her mind and body felt adjusting to the drugs, being paranoid--it was like she was writing my life, and she really understood. I knew then that I had to get back on medication and stop self medicating. It took time but I did. I've been taking my Lithium close to everyday. My life is completely changing. My "prognosis" as my doctor described in a report I got a copy of in my medical records, was fair to poor. But, now I think it's looking like I could do something with my life, and most importantly I am a great mother again. I think every family member should be required to read this book, in hopes they would understand a bit better. In response to my drastic change my son recently commented, "Mom, I can tell your medicine is working, because you're my mom again. You're starting to do all the things you used to that make me know you love me." So please, if you are bi-polar, think you might be, have been told you are, or have a family member or friend that is, you must read this book. It will change your perspective completely, and may even change your life.

Helpful on a human level

This is not a scientific book. It is simply one woman's attempt to help us understand what goes on in the mind of a bi-polar person. It helped me better understand but most importantly, sympathize with any one who has the disease. I recommend it if you want a personal account of bi-polar.

Very poignant

I read this after recently being diagnosed with bipolar 2 disorder. The book helped me make sense of what I had been through and I found myself relating many times to what was happening during Lizzie's journey. I found the abrupt nature of the writing very poignant, because it reminded me of my own racing thoughts and the way things sort of shift from one topic to another so quickly. Although I am older than the intended audience for the book, I still found it a great read and would recommend it to anyone who lives with bipolar disorder.

Pulls All the Punches...

Thanks, Ms. Simon! Growing up not with bipolar, but with a family tree whose history is all over the block (anxiety disorders, clinical depression, schizophrenia, agoraphobia, alcohol addiction), I commend her for writing so honestly and openly about living with a 'mental disorder', which still relates as 'crazy' to most of the modern, supposedly more enlightened world. In this quick, nicely written work, she relates what it's like to be first lost, then wildly successful, then lost again...finally on a journey to find her 'herd'...and I have felt this so many times over, feeling the affects of my family history, feeling 'lost' without that herd...Lizzie, to our, or (my own personal) benefit, realizes at the end that the 'herd' is 'her' without the 'd'...one's struggle to realize one's own destiny and come to grips with one's own self. I commend her for this brave account...she may be seen as 'self-indulgent', as many have branded Kay Redfield-Jamison (I've read both 'An Unquiet Mind' and 'Night Falls Fast'), but I say it's not self-indulgent, just the truth, raw and real. I only know one bipolar, and he's one of the most bright, intelligent persons I know...I think that if genetic research 'wiped out' the 'mental disorders' as we know them, that some of the most special, creative and brightest persons we know on this planet would not exist...and although mental illness places a great toll on families, on individuals, on society, as Lizzie explains her troubles with her families and relationships with other, the world would be a rather bland place without their insight. I think the great Abraham Lincoln (known to suffer black moods himself) once said something to the same effect. Suffer kindly your 'fools', your 'drunkards', your 'crazies'...they just might change the world.

Way to go Lizzie Simon!

An engaging, enlightening and entertaining read. I am touched by the honesty of this young writer and impressed by her insight and narrative skill. Bipolar disorder made real, scary, sad, and funny, a bit hip. Lizzie Simon writes a refreshing, and feminine addition to the few books in the Bipolar section of the bookstore. An autobiographical, picaresque work, bipolar - crosscountry. I highly recommend it.