Bassey Ikpi

Bassey Ikpi was born in Nigeria in 1976 but her family moved to the United States when she was 4. She has some early memories from Nigeria and as one expects, this story starts with them, but most of the stories in this book are from her adult life.

She does not structure her story as one continuous story - or at least not completely. Each essay is an episode of her life but they all connect, they all make up a whole. And the story that emerges is stark - she suffers from Bipolar II Disorder but it takes a very long time for anyone to admit that or for her to get her diagnosis. The book is her story of living with the mental disease, of breaking and finding the help she needed so much. Knowing the end makes the early signs very clear - but as mental health issues are considered shameful by a lot of people (even Ikpi refuses to accept her own diagnosis initially), those symptoms remain unaddressed.

When one is mentally ill, they don't usually behave as one would expect - they are people with good and bad days and more often than not, they function properly. Until they don't. For Ikpi, the path to finding help went through a breakdown and a steady personal decline after that. For some people, it leads to a suicide, homelessness or to a lifetime of struggle. In her case, a friend saw her by chance on the street and realized that she was really not doing well - which led to a hospital and a diagnosis. But not everyone is as lucky.

While the style is unorthodox (Ikpi is a poet and a spoken word artist and her style gets a lot of influence from that), the story is not. There is someone living through this every day - and most of these people can use someone noticing that they need help, long before they need a hospital bed. Or worse. It is also a reminder that mental health is as important as your physical health - and neglecting either is a really bad idea.

The memoir ends on a high note but it is not a fairy tale. It cannot be - and even if you never heard of her, you may want to read this book. Because it can be you. Or your friend. Or your spouse. Or your child. And the story does not always end well.… (mehr)

In this beautifully written, but disjointed collection of autobiographical essays, Nigerian-American author Bassey Ikpi shares what her life is like with bipolar disorder II, a mental illness characterized by persistent depression interspersed with episodes of hypomania. Sleeping and eating are two of her major problem areas, and she also has debilitating anxiety. Various medications help her symptoms but come with their own side effects. All of these issues take a severe toll on her ability to function as an adult, with a job, relationships, and other responsibilities.

Prior to picking up this book I was completely unfamiliar with Bassey Ikpi, although apparently she has appeared on the stage and screen. I would have appreciated head notes or some other device to provide more context for Ikpi's essays.

All in all, a helpful collection for understanding the lived experience of mental illness.… (mehr)