Mental Illness Memoirs

In 2015, Barbara Lipska - a leading expert on the neuroscience of mental illness - was diagnosed with melanoma that had spread to her brain. Within months, her frontal lobe, the seat of cognition, began shutting down. She descended into madness, exhibiting dementia- and schizophrenia-like symptoms that terrified her family and coworkers. But miraculously, the immunotherapy her doctors had prescribed worked quickly. Just eight weeks after her nightmare began, Lipska returned to normal. With one difference: she remembered her brush with madness with exquisite clarity.

The author describes in detail all the insanity, disturbing behaviors, oppressive symptoms, and various feeling associated with the mental battles within her own mind. The author suffers from clinical depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, and borderline personality disorder. She struggles with suicidal thoughts and attempts, self-mutilating behaviors, mania, paranoia, anxiety, and psychosis with intense hallucinations of all five of her senses, and multiple delusions, including the belief that she is the "second-coming of Christ".

What would you do if your dead sister sent you postcards? I've struggled to get my life back on track after a lifetime of despair, addiction, and loss. I finally have it all. A bustling business, a home, my health, and time with my beloved daughter Sophie. But that tenuous balance is tipped when my twin Jane's postcard arrives in the mail. My family thinks she's dead. They want to put it all behind them. But how can I agree when the evidence is right in front of me? When my nagging little sister provokes my rebellious teenager to run away, I am forced to confront the past I've wanted to ...

When Robert Hine's daughter, Elene, first showed signs of unhappiness as a little girl, no one dreamed she would grow up to have a serious personality disorder. As an early baby boomer, Elene reached adolescence and young womanhood in the midst of the counterculture years. Her father, a respected professor of American history at the University of California, shares the story of his family's struggle to keep Elene on track and functional, to see her through her troubles with delusions and medication, and eventually to help her raise her own children.

Grief, mental illness, and the bonds of family are movingly explored in this extraordinary memoir “suffused with emotional depth and intellectual inquiry” (Rachel Louise Snyder, author of No Visible Bruises) as a writer delves into the tragedy of his mother’s violent death at the hands of...

This memoir that "will take your breath away" chronicles a harrowing journey through homelessness and poverty in New York City, followed by a turbulent experience in foster care (Jeanette Walls, New York Times bestselling author of The Glass Castle). This powerful memoir exposes the harsh...

America has made mental illness a crime. Jails in New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago each house more people with mental illnesses than any hospital. In this revelatory book, journalist Alisa Roth goes deep inside the criminal justice system to tell how and why it has become a warehouse where inmates are denied proper treatment, abused, and punished in ways that make them sicker. Through intimate stories of people in the system and those trying to fix it, Roth reveals the hidden forces behind this crisis and suggests how a fairer and more humane approach might look.

Tom Scharpling is good at being funny, which is a miracle, considering what he’s survived. Like hitting a deer and narrowly escaping with his life on the night of the 2016 election. But that’s nothing compared to the struggles he had earlier in his life. It Never Ends is his memoir of a life writing comedy amidst a lifelong struggle with mental illness, a story he has never told before. It’s the heartbreaking account of his intense coming-of-age, and the lengths he’s undertaken to pull away from the brink of self-destruction.

A moving, compelling memoir about growing up and escaping the tragic legacy of mental illness, suicide, addiction, and depression in one of America's most famous families: the Hemingways.

Unsilenced:: A Memoir of Healing by Amy Gamble is a poignant exploration of resilience, inner strength, and the journey towards healing. In this deeply personal memoir, Gamble courageously shares her story of overcoming adversity and breaking free from the constraints of silence imposed by trauma and societal expectations. The narrative delves into pivotal moments of her life that shaped her identity and perspectives, offering readers an authentic glimpse into the emotional and psychological battles she faced. Through vivid storytelling, Gamble articulates her struggles with vulnerability, ...

“You Look Fine”—The Three Words That Prove No One Understands What You're Going Through. Nicole O’Donnell collapsed in a store on what seemed like a normal Tuesday. That collapse triggered six years of medical hell: doctors who dismissed her symptoms, specialists who shrugged their shoulders, treatments that cost thousands and delivered nothing but false hope. Sound familiar? Here's what she discovered that changed everything: You don’t need another person telling you to “stay positive” or try the latest miracle cure.

From “weird, scary, ingenious” (The New York Times) stand-up comedian Maria Bamford, an instant New York Times bestselling, brutally honest, and “laugh-out-loud funny” (Jennette McCurdy, #1 New York Times bestselling author) memoir about show business, mental health, and the comfort of...

Overcoming Borderline Personality Disorder is a compassionate and informative guide to understanding this profoundly unsettling - and widely misunderstood - mental illness, believed to affect approximately six percent of the general population. Rather than viewing people with BPD as manipulative opponents in a bitter struggle, or pitying them as emotional invalids, Valerie Porr cites cutting-edge science to show that BPD is a true neurobiological disorder and not, as many come to believe, a character flaw or the result of bad parenting.

Do you find yourself repeatedly checking your email for no reason, asking others for their opinions about something again and again, or lying awake at night overanalyzing and planning ahead? If so, you probably have a problem with compulsive reassurance seeking. The good news is that you can break free from this "reassurance trap" - this book will show you how. In this unique guide, you'll find proven-effective tips and tools using CBT to help you tolerate uncertainty, face specific worrying scenarios, and gradually reduce the compulsion to incessantly seek reassurance.

An engrossing, “completely fascinating” (Cosmopolitan) memoir revealing the author’s struggle to come to terms with her own sociopathy and shed light on the often maligned and misunderstood mental disorder. Patric Gagne realized she made others uncomfortable before she started kindergarten...

This is a personal story of generational trauma, a mother's debilitating paranoid schizophrenia and a daughter who was thrust into foster care, homelessness, drug addiction, and was sexually abused and neglected. This book Discovers the strength of the human spirit and the power of love that defies all odds, a story of resilience and hope. Beautifully written as a heartfelt memoir that invites readers to discover Lorie’s profound journey, The Voices We Couldn’t Hear is a transformative coming-of-age story that delves into poignant themes including abuse, mental illness, and the ...

The Art of Letting Go is all about organizing the mess in your mind. It's about how to stop focusing on the past that is over, or the future that may never occur, and being present in the situations that you can actually have agency in.

What happens when the mind meant to be a gift becomes a battlefield? From early childhood, Travis McLaurin knew he was different. Sensitive, gifted, imaginative—and misunderstood. What no one could see was that his brain was fighting a silent war long before he had words for it. The Gift of a Loud Mind is a raw, deeply personal mental health memoir that traces one man’s life with bipolar disorder, from childhood trauma and misdiagnosis to manic and depressive episodes that shaped his identity, relationships, faith, and sense of self. This is not a clinical textbook—it is a real-life ...

Learn first hand the story of one young woman and her family’s struggle with mental health and illness. Written from the experiences of a daughter who has schizophrenia and her mom and dad, there is a 3-fold perspective on mental illness and recovery. Filled with hope and faith, they never gave up and don’t want you to give up either. Even in the darkest places, light can be found. And in today’s world, people who experience mental health conditions, with the help of their family and friends, CAN live fulfilling, vibrant lives, with jobs, families, and interests. Today is a day of hope!

Professor of psychiatry Elyn R. Saks writes about her struggle with schizophrenia in this unflinching account of her mental illness. In The Center Cannot Hold, Saks draws readers into a nightmare world of medications, a misguided health-care system, and social stigmas. But she would not be defeated. With a strength and force of will that most can only imagine, Saks reclaimed her life and went on to achieve great success.