Foreward
I am a psychologist and was at one time Chief of Service of the Intensive Care Unit of Manhattan State Hospital, and extreme examples of madness had been the focus of my early career. There is much to learn from looking at things from the perspective of a human with different wiring. Unfortunately, much of the popular literature has gotten it wrong. The portrayal of mania and psychotic episodes tends to be developed by individuals who have not personally experienced it, and those who have are rarely able to write about it coherently or insightfully.
The reader of "Soaring and Crashing " has an opportunity to vicariously experience some of the frontiers of human perception and interpretation. Holly Hollan meets the diagnostic criteria of Bipolar Disorder – personally riding an unusually steep version of this roller coaster – and is also a fine writer with the technical skills to be our charming and light-hearted tour guide as she takes us on an exciting trip to the limits of madness.
Perhaps due to her wonderful disposition, Holly has, surprisingly, gotten what she wants, however unlikely such outcomes might be. More than 15 years ago I told her, with a degree of certainty, "You will never marry Neil Diamond!" I would have been surprised at that time to discover that one day Neil Diamond would announce: "I love you, Holly," on national radio. If you like the thrill of fast action, unpredictable ups and downs, and yet a long-term coherent story and willful influence over the unfolding of events, hang on, you are in for a treat. Ahead is a fabulous adventure tale of a journey to the edge and back again.
But there is another audience for this book, an audience which I believe is Holly's primary target: Bipolars. A great achievement of this work is a description of a realistic path to a good long-term outcome, described clearly and coherently in the last four chapters.
