An excerpt:

“Writing had always a tool I used since birth to cope, express and observe. To have a voice. To be heard. Through words, I slowly discovered I was not alone with an invisible illness. The more I opened up, the more people started sharing their stories with me. The truth is a beautiful and freeing faucet, it flows effortlessly when turned on. 

I decided to take my power back and to help.  

I read, researched, and educated myself. I walked until walking turn into cardio, and yoga. 

I drastically changed my diet, no carbs, no sugar, no gluten. I began researching alternative medicine, the leaky gut-brain inflammation connection. I take probiotics. I exercise. I use essential oils. I became ultra-disciplined and hyper-aware to survive. I am med compliant. I challenge the psychiatrists, always searching for innovative, out of the box treatments to compliment the psyche meds. 

I became my best advocate. 

I wrote a dark and honest memoir, The Red Bench, about my struggles with bipolar, and my journey towards hope so that I and others like me would feel less alone.”