Those newly diagnosed with a mental illness usually face a bleak time. While a diagnosis is infinitely better than uncontrolled mental illness, sources of hope to overcome challenges can be few and far between. Many rightly focus on learning more about their psychological condition. Reestablishing your professional and personal lives, often wrecked by disease, becomes paramount. Some build on this knowledge and transition their career towards specializing in mental illness. However, few published stories are shared about succeeding in fields other than psychology. In this memoir, Michael Trzcinski, diagnosed with bipolar after suffering too long, talks about his career as a successful businessman, consultant, philanthropist, and volunteer. In so doing, he offers hope to those suffering from bipolar disorder that they can indeed live a fulfilling life despite their illness.

Trzcinski, now a small-business owner, approaches his illness relatively matter-of-factly. He wishes he would have reported his symptoms to the medical system sooner; instead, he had to languish with suicidal thoughts for some time and admitted himself to a psychiatric hospital. He doesn’t delve into deep psychological introspection about his symptoms, but embraced the hope of therapeutic medications – and of staying on therapeutic medications. He had a supportive spouse and was able to rebuild his professional life after his manic irritability and depressions wrecked too many relationships. As a person also diagnosed with bipolar disorder, I would have liked to have learned about more internal wrestling about moods to see whether I could learn anything about myself.

That theme consumed the first one-third of the book. After that, he dwells on how his life has become better while remaining relatively stable while under treatment. For instance, he voyaged to Borneo, a large island in Indonesia, and learned firsthand and up-close about their people. He ended up becoming involved in two micro-venture projects and even helped to fundraise for a local school. He speaks about how the enhanced creativity and empathy gained with bipolar disorder helped him. This project contributed deep meaning to his life. He also writes in depth about serving as a spy for the US government (yes, that’s no delusion) and volunteering at psychiatric hospitals.

This book is not going to be a chart-topping best-seller, but it fills an important need. It provides a reasonable template on how to succeed with bipolar disorder. Those newly diagnosed and their families should read this for hope on bleak days. Success can be had, and it can be done without getting a PhD in psychology. Mental illness can pose many contradictions and is often stigmatized in popular culture. Voices like Trzcinski’s remind us of the humanity lying behind the words and point to a better world with healthier lives. ( )