I Hope I Get Well

When Adam was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, he was a confident college student dead set on changing the world. Then he stopped sleeping for six days, obeyed directions from God, and wound up lashed to a bed in a psychiatric ward. His manic episode and involuntary hospitalization were followed by a seemingly endless depression. For two years, bipolar disorder dominated Adam’s life.

Working his way back to stability, Adam left his hometown, hoping to escape the frightening memories of his sickest days. But sixteen years later, when bipolar disorder derails his life again, those memories come rushing back.

With the help of his loving wife, old friends, and a brilliant therapist, he reckons with his past and finds a new way of being bipolar—and ultimately, of being human. Honest and riveting, I Hope I Get Well is a story of mental illness that swaps shame and fear for kindness and freedom.

Adam Gerhardstein is a writer, husband, and father who lives in St. Paul, Minnesota. After pursuing and retiring from four careers, he's discovered his true calling is to keep learning new things. He writes a creative nonfiction newsletter called "The LoveLetter from Adam Gerhardstein" that he mails (like, with stamps) around the world.