Overall this is a good book. Interesting (I finished it within four days) informative, and even though this is a much overused term, insightful. There were moments when I couldn't quite "get" some of the side comments, almost like they were inside jokes that turned into puzzles I had to refelct on to figure out, but I was still able to appreciate his humor. This wit was weaved throughout his account, and my favorite example of this is when he said his father gave he and his family code names in case any of them were ever trapped or captured, they would be able to assure each other that it was really them. During a hospitalization he "tried hard as hell", even knowing it was likely not to work, to get word out to his parents using the code. He describes his experience applying to medical school, attending Harvard Medical, going on to become a pediatrician, and after 14 years suffering a fourth, and as yet final, nervous breakdown. A comment he made, "My partners let me come back part-time and then full-time. It was a huge relief to be doing something I knew how to do and get paid for. Maybe in some sense I was and still am addicted to taking care of other people's problems. Faced with sick children and worried parents again, I felt useful." This seems to me like he feels there is something wrong with wanting to do his job and caring about what he does and who he can help. It was sad to see this compared to an addiction. It is his life's work and has put his heart into it, surmounting potentially debilitating obstacles to become the whole person he envisioned himself being. Equally sad are the descriptions of the state of health care. Some are issues widely known, others are insights that most aren't commonly aware of. During a trip to Honduras with a group of other doctors, with the intent to treat patients for free, it is discovered that things there are handled not entirely differently than how they are handled in the United States. There were a couple chapters that I couldn't figure out how they became interesting enough to be part of the book, one recounting a trip lobster hunting, and another an experience gathering wild mushrooms. Despite these low points, there is enough going for this book to make it a valuable read for anyone interested in, or one living with, mental illness.