Madness by Mayra Hornbacher - Essay Example

Madness by Mayra Hornbacher Madness Mayra Hornbacher Publisher: Mariner Books 2009 Madness is the story of Mayra Hornbacher’s life. Although diagnosed in her twenties as Bipolar, Mayra like many does not find the help she needed until her thirties. It is not because she was not diagnosed properly at first. At first the doctors diagnosed her as anorexic/bulimic. Then she was diagnosed as depressed. After being properly diagnosed as Bipolar, Mayra continued to have manic episodes and depressive episodes due to not taking her medicine properly and her alcohol abuse. Mayra was eventually diagnosed as Bipolar I, which is for rapid cyclers. Finally after years of hospital visits, therapy, and lots of different types of medicine, Mayra found a routine that has worked for her so far. Like Mayra has proven and other people with Bipolar disorder know, this illness has no cure. It is a lifelong process of taking medicines to alleviate the symptoms of the disorder. Over the years the more doctors have learned about being Bipolar. When Mayra was first diagnosed, she got a generic Bipolar diagnosis. Now there is two different types of Bipolar; Bipolar I and Bipolar II. It was once thought that a person had long manic phases and long depressed phases, but as Mayra has shown her moods changed daily. Today doctors know more, but more research and study is needed. Like many people with Bipolar disorder, Mayra self medicated since her adolescence. Alcohol to come down or take the edge off her manic phases, pills to chase away the blues. After being hospitalized for her eating disorder, Mayra stopped taking pills. However her alcohol intake increased for years. She was also a cutter. After an almost near death experience after slitting her veins, she stopped regular cutting. Mayra did not receive help sooner than her thirties, even though diagnosed with Bipolar ten years earlier, because she did not take the disease seriously. Finally Mayra had to face the fact that she was never going to be normal, but with medicine could live with the disease. Once she stopped drinking, she still did not take the disease seriously. Only after addressing her illness, did Mayra find a tenuous balance with medicine and therapy. The mental disorders that are covered in this book are: Bipolar Depression The symptoms that resulted from the final metal disorder diagnosis of Bipolar I are: Alcoholism Anorexia Bulimia The treatment used for Mayra was immense. She tried everything from mental wards, medicine, detox, AA, and therapy. At first diagnosed with anorexia/bulimia, Mayra was hospitalized for that. The goal for treating anorexia/bulimia is to get a patient to eat. The weight Mayra gained or lost was more important than her mental state. They grouped her with other anorexia/bulimia patients that were depressed. The medicine Prozac might have helped Mayra with a mood stabilizer, but alone the medicine only brought on more severe manic episodes. When diagnosed as Bipolar, Mayra was prescribed a mood stabilizer. Lithium did not seem to work. She started taking Klontonin and Depakote, but since she was drinking it was not that effective. Therapy sessions during this time did not work due to Mayra’s inability to open up completely to her psychologist. One psychologist just kept upping her medicine, not focusing on her drinking problem. Form many years her alcohol abuse made her medicines, despite the many used, ineffective. Mayra was hospitalized too many times to count in the book. The medicines put her in a fog during these times. Group therapy at the hospital did not work, because Mayra would not open up in these sessions. She was basically put on different doses of medicines after a few weeks of hospitalization and released. The doctors did not treat her mental illness aggressively, because Mayra did not take her illness seriously. Today Mayra takes Lamitcal, Tegretol, Geodon, Wellbutrin, Trazadone, Ativan, along with high dose of fish oil and B-12 supplements. She also does at bi-weekly therapy sessions. On her own, a written journal, yoga, meditation, structured schedule, baths, and staying sober help Mayra stay on top of her Bipolar disorder. Most importantly Mayra wants to be healthy. She no longer has the idea that she is mentally ill, sick, or mad and nothing can change. Mayra is optimistic about her health. My recommendation for Mayra might be a little different. She is taking a lot of medicine in my opinion. I would prescribe the Wellbutrin and Tegretol, which both are mood stabilizers. Lamitcal has also been effective in treating Bipolar. My concern would be with the side effects of that much medicine. It is easy to over prescribe. The key is to balance the medicines without over medicating. Therapy and her written journal, yoga, meditation, structured schedule, and baths are positive as well. However the most important treatment would be keeping Mayra sober. I think Mayra would have had her Bipolar disorder under control sooner, if she had taken the disease more easily. It became easy for her to drink, party, and behave badly because she saw herself as crazy. Her manias were enjoyable at first. People that work long hours, party hard, and stay up twenty-two hours a day get more done than other people. It is a high that can be enjoyable, until the bottom drops out. The paranoia, anxiety attacks, and depression are not as fun. Mayra wanted to be superwoman. Only in a manic phase could she achieve that high goal. Mayra did speak of not being a ‘real person’. Due to her mental illness, Mayra had to perform for acquaintances, coworkers, friends, family, and lovers. The problem was when the real ‘Mayra’ emerged others did not know how to react. Her family coddled her, enabling her addiction to alcohol. Coworkers would be fine until Mayra snapped under the pressure, then her job would end. Lovers would fight with her and then leave. Friends would stay away from the real Mayra, preferring the performing Mayra. If only someone would have reached out to the real Mayra, maybe she would have accepted help earlier. Bipolar disorder is difficult to live with, not just the person with the disorder, but to everyone around them. If a person diagnosed with Bipolar disorder has a support system of psychologists, doctors, friends, family, and a significant other, they have a better chance of recovery. Like Mayra, most people with Bipolar disorder feel like losers. It is easier to get better for someone else. However it is important for the people diagnosed with Bipolar to remain healthy for themselves first and foremost. Reference Hornbacher, Mayra. Madness. New York: Mariner Books, 2009. Read More