Manic Man by Jason Wegner {Book Tour Book Review}
{This book was kindly gifted to me by Literary PR in exchange for an honest review and a place on the book tour.}
Hello friends,
Today I’m starting off the virtual Book Tour for Jason Wegner’s debut book, Manic Man. Full details of the book tour are at the end of this review, so you’ll be able to follow the tour as it’s running from today, the 26th of November, to the 4th of December.
Manic Man is a memoir of Jason’s experience living through his first manic episode, which led to him being diagnosed with Bipolar I Disorder and the treatment plan that his Doctor, Dr. Kerry Bernes, {who wrote the forward for this book} and he put together to help Jason live life with his severe mental illness.
Before I tell you more about this book and share my thoughts on it, I do want to mention a big trigger warning for recreational drug use and also some people may find certain parts of the book to be anxiety triggering as well. For reasons I’m not going to share, I found the drug use hard to read and did skip a little bit of it at times and some moments of Jason’s manic accounts made me feel a bit anxious as I could almost feel my mind racing as much as his was. I’ll be completely honest, I read at night and did struggle to sleep at times while reading this but I’m incredibly glad that I was given the opportunity to and here’s why…
Like most people, I had heard of Bipolar Disorder but my knowledge of it was quite limited in that all I really knew was that a person living with it experienced extreme highs and extreme lows. I had no idea that there are actually two types of the disorder; Bipolar I consists of a severe manic episode which is accompanied by symptoms that include rapid thinking, pressured speech, insomnia, increased energy, grandiose ideas, excessive spending, substance abuse and usually requires hospitalisation. A person with Bipolar II doesn’t usually have a full manic episode but will experience a pattern of depressive and hypomanic symptoms that can be treated without being hospitalised.
Jason’s account of his mental state and life during his manic episode, while difficult to read at times, is incredibly eye opening and honest. Jason documents how this time in his life impacts his education, his jobs and his relationships with family and friends. My heart broke for his parents, especially his mother as she is the one who finally calls the ambulance that leads to his hospitalisation ~ I cannot imagine how incredibly difficult that would have been for her, even though it was the best thing she did for her son.
Throughout the book, recounting journal entries and audio recordings, Jason documents what feels like almost every thought he had during his manic episode. What I found interesting is that although he was telling his concerned friends, family and teachers he was fine, there are moments when he mentions that he feels like he might be “crazy” but then swiftly moves on to other grandiose thoughts of how he’ll change the world. For me, reading those rapid fire thoughts, these mentions of “maybe there’s something wrong” felt like tiny moments of lucidity or warning signs, within the mania.
I kept hoping that he would listen to those “warning thoughts", as well as the people around him, stop “self medicating” himself with drugs and get the help he needed. But as anyone else with a mental illness knows, the brain is a powerful organ and when it’s not functioning properly, can very easily convince you of a number of things that simply aren’t true or real ~ convincing Jason he was even better than fine and that he was superhuman, kept him from realising there was something very wrong, until he was hospitalised and even then, it took a while.
“Dr Bernes said there is no shame in taking medication for a mental illness. He likened taking medication for the mental illness to taking insulin for diabetes. The diabetic has an imbalance in their body, while the bipolar person has an imbalance in their brain. The two conditions should be considered and respected equally.”
Jason’s account of his hospitalisation is just as insightful as the rest of his story. It’s through this time that you can see Jason gradually come to terms with his diagnosis of Bipolar I Disorder and has a turning point when he realises that medication can help him come out of his manic episode. Eventually, his doctors decide he is well enough to return home with his parents and begin the road to recovery while learning to live with his mental illness. During this time he has regular appointments with Dr. Kerry Bernes, a psychologist and together they come up with a treatment plan, which they call “The Octagon of Life”. This plan encompasses eight different areas of Jason’s life that can, in turn, help him to live with his Bipolar I Disorder and achieve the goals he wants to.
These areas are:
Exercise
Nutrition
Exposure Therapy
Cognitive Therapy
Relationships
Career
Finances
Mental Health Balance
This treatment plan has helped Jason to manage his Bipolar I and live the life he wants.
As I said at the beginning of this review, Jason’s book is a difficult read at times but it’s also an important one. It sheds light on a mental illness that, like all mental illnesses, is often stigmatised, mainly due to not being understood fully. Jason’s story doesn’t hold back from what a manic episode is like to experience and how it can effect the person and those around them. Jason’s story is also one of hope, he shows that a mental illness diagnosis doesn’t mean your life has to end. That it is possible to manage your disorder and live life how you want to.
I just want to say a huge thank you to Jason and Dr Bernes for sharing this story with the world and also thank you to the lovely people at Literary PR for gifting me this book and giving me the opportunity to read and review it.
Stay Safe. Read a Book.
L x
If you’re interest in following the rest of the book tour for Manic Man by Jason Wagner, then here are the social media handles of all the other participants and the dates their reviews will be available to read:
27th November: Lesley ~ @janelesley
29th November: Katie ~ @Currentlyreads
30th November: Book Read 2day ~ @bookread2day
1st December: Maude ~ @MaudeB3
2nd December: Beatrice ~ @Bookforthought1
3rd December: Karen ~ @un_lucky_clover
4th December: Anasua ~ @a_n_a_s_u_a
If you’d like to know more about Jason, his social media handle is @J_Wegs
