Sugar and Salt: My Life with Bipolar Disorder

by Jane Thompson

Sugar & My Life with Bipolar Disorder is the story of an ordinary person who lived with and ultimately overcame bipolar disorder (manic-depression.). She was not diagnosed until she was 37. She describes what it is like to be raised in a family overshadowed by the illness, and to try to fit in in school and to function at work with the undiagnosed disorder. The failure of a marriage and relationships are detailed, and she struggles to understand why her life is so different and so difficult, until she has a sudden revelation that something is wrong with her and that she needs help. Then comes the long fight to get treatment as she tries medication after medication after being misdiagnosed as psychotic. For five years she seeks knowledge and understanding of the disorder that makes her suffer. In a dramatic turn, Jane realizes she must enter a mental hospital to get the treatment she needs. She describes life in a locked ward, and how her doctor finally finds the medication her disorder responds to. She feels she has been given the key that lets her out of the hell the mood disorder has kept her in all her life, and for the first time, she feels "normal." After the hospital, Jane has to face the world again and start a new life. She is able to work for years without her employers discovering her secret. However, after ten years, she develops an allergy to the medication that has served her so well and must start the process over again. During this process, she loses her dream job and falls back into depression. A story of ultimate triumph over bipolar disorder; find out how she did it and how you, too, can manage the disorder through medication and therapy.

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Mental Illness

180 pages, Paperback

First published August 30, 2006

About the author

Born in Oklahoma, I went to high school there and to Oklahoma University, where I received an MA. I worked at several different jobs, as a teacher, social worker, paralegal, and finally, as a writer.

When I was 37, I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, which did much to explain my inability to hold onto a job. I spent five years, without the internet or books, looking for the right medications. Finally, in 1988, I checked myself into Parkland, in Dallas, and was given the correct meds for me. Since then I have been stable, and have written books in an attempt to help others.

Reviews

[William Russeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

A terse presentation of what it is like to live with bi-polar disorder and experience the struggle of coping with life while institutiions fail to diagnose the problem. A short read that should be insightful and helpful to people concerned with the problem.

[Pamela Cooper · Rating 5 out of 5]

EXCELLENT BOOK. BEST BOOK IVE EVER RED THAT EXPLINS MY BIPOLAR EXPERIENCE..

[Pixelina · Rating 1 out of 5]

It was just really tedious to read. I don't need to know her entire life story + her parents and grandparent, every single dinner.
I just want to throw it into the fireplace.

[Magdalena Kruszyńska · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book I enjoyed reading it 3.75/4