Book Description
This book is a sincere and vivid account of Tina's descent into the world of mental illnesses. She was offered one wrong diagnosis after another: depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, bipolar, Asperger's syndrome, and a suspected personality disorder. Tina's first hospitalisation resulted from an eating disorder. Doctors prescribed an anti-depressant, but the medication precipitated manic episodes. Life became unbearable, and Tina attempted suicide by jumping in front of an oncoming train. She miraculously survived uninjured, but continued to struggle with mood swings and was put on more and more unnecessary medications which insinuated a continuous manic-depressive cycle. Tina attempted suicide in the same manner a few months later, suffering a number of broken bones, multiple fractures in her skull, and a liver laceration, as well as a traumatic brain injury that paralysed her left side. She was in hospital for five months, slowly regaining movement and learning how to walk again. Tina's book ends with the realisation that no one has a perfect life; rather, it is our struggles that make us stronger.
