Life B - Overcoming Double Depression: A Memoir

"A different kind of depression story . . . a positive road map of how to live with & transcend the limitations of mental illness.” — Jessica Ferri, Los Angeles Times

“In Life B, Bethanne Patrick takes readers on a harrowing journey to the cliff edge of suicidal despair, so that they might stare into the abyss of depression & better understand this debilitating condition. Not since William Styron’s Darkness Visible has there been so enlightening a book on mental illness. Fearless, generous, fascinating.” — Adrienne Brodeur, author of Wild Game

A bracing & fresh look at a lifelong struggle with depression & mental illness

Plagued by depression her entire life, it wasn’t until her early fifties that writer & book critic Bethanne Patrick, advocating for her own care, received a medical diagnosis that would set her on the path to wellness & stability.

Recognizing the intergenerational effects of trauma & mental health struggles, Patrick unearths the stories of her past in order to forge a better future for herself & her two daughters, dismantling the stigmas surrounding mental health challenges that can plague families into silence and resignation. Life B is an intimate portrait we haven’t yet seen—of a lifelong struggle with depression, of midlife diagnosis & newly found strength. Most important, it’s a life-affirming blueprint of how to accept & transcend the limitations of mental illness.

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BETHANNE PATRICK maintains a storied place in the publishing industry as a critic & as @TheBookMaven on Twitter, where she created the popular #FridayReads & regularly comments on books & literary ideas to over 200K followers. Her work appears frequently in the Los Angeles Times as well as at The Washington Post, NPR Books, & Literary Hub. She sits on the board of the PEN/Faulkner Foundation & has served on the board of the National Book Critics Circle. She is the host of the Missing Pages podcast. bethannepatrick.