Perfect Chaos
A Daughter's Journey to Survive Bipolar, a Mother's Struggle to Save Her
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- $9.900
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- $9.900
Publisher Description
The Johnsons were a close and loving family living in the Seattle area - two parents, two incomes, two bright and accomplished daughters. They led busy lives filled with music lessons, college preparation, career demands, and laughter around the dinner table. Then the younger daughter, Linea, started experiencing crippling bouts of suicidal depression. Multiple trips to the psych ward resulted in a diagnosis of bipolar disorder, and it took many trial runs of drugs and ultimately electroshock therapy to bring Linea back. But her family never gave up on her. And Linea never stopped trying to find her way back to them.
Perfect Chaos is the story of a mother and daughter's journey through mental illness towards hope. From initial worrying symptoms to long sleepless nights to cross-country flights and the slow understanding and rebuilding of trust, Perfect Chaos tells Linea and Cinda's harrowing and inspiring story, of an illness that they conquer together every day. It is the story of a daughter's courage, a mother's faith, and the love that carried them through the darkest times.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Johnson, diagnosed as bipolar in her 20s, is one of the lucky ones, armed with a caring family, good health insurance, and a strong determination to live, as she describes with her mother in this wrenching story. As she and her mother detail their family's attempts to make sense of the disorder, it becomes clear that mental illness doesn't spare even the most loving homes. Between high school and college, Linea shifts from being a happy, thriving, perfectionist to someone overwhelmed by anxiety. At first, her baffled parents believe it's fixable teenage stress. While away at college, the illness fully takes hold and gradually builds until she feels suicidal. Her parents, worried and exhausted, decide that bringing her back to Seattle is the best way to keep her safe. Despite everyone's best intentions, Linea's suicidal thoughts return. Her mantra as she creates a suicide plan is "I want pain, I want blood. I hurt so much." She ends up in a psychiatric unit, where she agrees to electroconvulsive therapy. The treatments are not a miracle cure, and although months later she overdoses on medication, it's a cry for help to save her life, and it does. The journey for Linea and her family is a moving and hopeful one, as they better understand how she reacts to the illness, and realize that being bipolar is only a part of someone's life, not the whole.
