In this memoir of madness, GH Francis (a pseudonym for Geoff Hoesch) documents his journey with schizoaffective disorder of the bipolar type (sometimes diagnosed with bipolar disorder), taking the reader through a world rife with demons, saints, and delusions of grandeur. Excerpt:

In the aftermath of mania, as you try to process all of the insane actions you performed, it is difficult to convince yourself that you can ever truly be sane.  Over and over, you tell yourself that it wasn’t the real you that did these things, it was the mental illness.  Then you’re stuck wondering where the “real you” ends and the mental illness begins.

Icarus Redeemed is the story of an alcoholic, disassociated young adult with a mood disorder who is forced to decide whether or not his disorder will rule his life.  It is a story of redemption, of manic highs and depressive lows, and of becoming an adult in a world of pills and institutions.

With the current national focus on mental illness and the growing population of depressed and mentally ill in our country, this book is highly relevant.  It offers a first-hand glimpse into the mind of a person coping with the extremes of mania and depression, and hope for all those struggling with mental illness.

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This self-published book is 60,000 words. The first chapters are below.