What do you think?
Rate this book
Slip-Resistant Socks: My Journey with Bipolar Disorder
In vivid detail and straightforward honesty, Bryce Hostetler lays bare his experience with bipolar disorder. His onset occurs suddenly in his sophomore year of college, sparking unending cycles of fervent mania and crippling depression. It leads to the loss of multiple romantic relationships and friendships, makes school and work a constant struggle, and causes him to wrestle with his religion for its stigmatization of mental illnesses.
Even his dearest friend chooses to escape his madness by cutting off their friendship as easily as one clicks a shutdown button. In this haunting account, Bryce examines why he can't do the same for himself. Why can't he simply flip a switch in his brain and stop the incessant waves of mania and depression?
Bryce questions the countless medications and therapies that are thrown at him, and he is candid about his suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts. In this deeply personal, intimate account, he is truthful about the highs and lows of the disorder. What emerges is a raw and inspiring chronicle of the inside world of a young man who is struggling with a debilitating mental health condition while harboring the hope for a better tomorrow.
More than a memoir, Slip-Resistant Socks contains a poignant message about the mental health stigma in modern America. It is an important read, not only for those grappling with bipolar disorder, but also for those seeking to gain a greater understanding of a commonly misunderstood condition.
Even his dearest friend chooses to escape his madness by cutting off their friendship as easily as one clicks a shutdown button. In this haunting account, Bryce examines why he can't do the same for himself. Why can't he simply flip a switch in his brain and stop the incessant waves of mania and depression?
Bryce questions the countless medications and therapies that are thrown at him, and he is candid about his suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts. In this deeply personal, intimate account, he is truthful about the highs and lows of the disorder. What emerges is a raw and inspiring chronicle of the inside world of a young man who is struggling with a debilitating mental health condition while harboring the hope for a better tomorrow.
More than a memoir, Slip-Resistant Socks contains a poignant message about the mental health stigma in modern America. It is an important read, not only for those grappling with bipolar disorder, but also for those seeking to gain a greater understanding of a commonly misunderstood condition.
244 pages, ebook
Published November 10, 2020
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
January 21, 2021
This was 3.5 stars for me.
This completes Task 23: Read a book that demystifies a common mental illness of Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge.
I'm not sure where to start with this book. I did like it. I think it was brave of him to write this down so that we can have somewhat of an understanding and how doctors and therapy and religion can change the way you are. I've known quite a few friends and family members with Bipolar Disorder and yes, I'm in the camp where I eventually walked away due to the craziness and mood shifts. For some, I was the point of attack. This book gave me an insight of how they are feeling and maybe why I was a focal point. It helped me understand a bit more. I definitely liked the research of the book and the fact that he gave the Drug Name and the Common Name of drugs I have heard about before. And I certainly have had my fair share of bad doctors diagnosing the wrong thing and giving me the wrong medication over and over and over again. This is so new (not the disease itself) in how we diagnose it and treat the disease. So, when I saw the Dr. with 30 years experience, I immediately became suspicious.
What I didn't like was some of it rambled. I didn't know where I was in the timeline or with girlfriends. And speaking of women, there were so many and everyone was the most beautiful girl in the world or school or universe. Every time a girl's name showed up on the page, I just thought, "Oh no, here we go again." I felt like this was a symptom much like the spending spree. He talked in so much detail about the girls/girlfriends, but he had friends. He had friends that helped him and we got basically one word sentence about a friend drove him to the hospital. Nothing more. I seemed to know more about strangers he just met than his actual friends. We did have the fearsome four, which I didn't understand. It seemed he would write that he never talked to them again, but then talk to them again. That part was hard to follow. His family who also suffered from bipolar disorder, I felt could have helped him the most. It's clear that he leaned on one brother and I'm glad he had his mother go back to for help, but he could have talked more with them. I also felt like he wasn't telling the whole truth to his therapists, but then again, I don't know since I wasn't there.
The one thing that really bothered me was the way he treated Delilah. She talked to him about her issues and he dismissed her so quickly for sexual reasons, but then bitched about how no one helped him or they just dismissed him the exact same way. It didn't sit well with me. And maybe it's because of the attacks I've personally had on me, but he never wrote that he was sorry to any of them, especially Esther or even Mary. Maybe he did truly and it wasn't captured in this book. It was sometimes a weird apology making them at fault and then giving them a but afterwards. If one person had said that they were truly sorry and it was because of my disease to me, than I would have done what I could to fight for them. But I also let them go.
I do think it's a good book to read to understand mania and depression and bipolar disorder. You might have a different experience with it, which is kind of the point of his book. I loved the title, as well.
This completes Task 23: Read a book that demystifies a common mental illness of Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge.
I'm not sure where to start with this book. I did like it. I think it was brave of him to write this down so that we can have somewhat of an understanding and how doctors and therapy and religion can change the way you are. I've known quite a few friends and family members with Bipolar Disorder and yes, I'm in the camp where I eventually walked away due to the craziness and mood shifts. For some, I was the point of attack. This book gave me an insight of how they are feeling and maybe why I was a focal point. It helped me understand a bit more. I definitely liked the research of the book and the fact that he gave the Drug Name and the Common Name of drugs I have heard about before. And I certainly have had my fair share of bad doctors diagnosing the wrong thing and giving me the wrong medication over and over and over again. This is so new (not the disease itself) in how we diagnose it and treat the disease. So, when I saw the Dr. with 30 years experience, I immediately became suspicious.
What I didn't like was some of it rambled. I didn't know where I was in the timeline or with girlfriends. And speaking of women, there were so many and everyone was the most beautiful girl in the world or school or universe. Every time a girl's name showed up on the page, I just thought, "Oh no, here we go again." I felt like this was a symptom much like the spending spree. He talked in so much detail about the girls/girlfriends, but he had friends. He had friends that helped him and we got basically one word sentence about a friend drove him to the hospital. Nothing more. I seemed to know more about strangers he just met than his actual friends. We did have the fearsome four, which I didn't understand. It seemed he would write that he never talked to them again, but then talk to them again. That part was hard to follow. His family who also suffered from bipolar disorder, I felt could have helped him the most. It's clear that he leaned on one brother and I'm glad he had his mother go back to for help, but he could have talked more with them. I also felt like he wasn't telling the whole truth to his therapists, but then again, I don't know since I wasn't there.
The one thing that really bothered me was the way he treated Delilah. She talked to him about her issues and he dismissed her so quickly for sexual reasons, but then bitched about how no one helped him or they just dismissed him the exact same way. It didn't sit well with me. And maybe it's because of the attacks I've personally had on me, but he never wrote that he was sorry to any of them, especially Esther or even Mary. Maybe he did truly and it wasn't captured in this book. It was sometimes a weird apology making them at fault and then giving them a but afterwards. If one person had said that they were truly sorry and it was because of my disease to me, than I would have done what I could to fight for them. But I also let them go.
I do think it's a good book to read to understand mania and depression and bipolar disorder. You might have a different experience with it, which is kind of the point of his book. I loved the title, as well.
December 4, 2020
Hostetler chronicles his journey of dealing with bipolar disorder and suicidal thoughts in this candid memoir that probes poverty, childhood trauma, dysfunctional family unit, and religion and stigmatization of mental illnesses.
With a large family that depended entirely on social assistance and disability checks, Hostetler and his siblings struggled to get a decent meal. Born to a bipolar mother and absentee father, Hostetler wrestled with anxiety disorder from a very young age. It leads to the loss of multiple romantic relationships and friendships, making school and work a continuous struggle throughout his life. It was during his sophomore year of college that he went into severe depression and was eventually diagnosed as bipolar. With his grades plunging and critical mood swings, Hostetler was forced to take a break from his studies and moved back home.
Though, he finished his degree later and got a nicely-paying job, his battle with depression and suicidal thoughts didn’t end. He saw various medical professionals in hope of getting a proper treatment, but years of relentless struggle with mania and depression and broken relationships had taken a toll on his mental health, leading to hospitalization in a psychiatric facility. But he didn’t lose hope, and eventually settled on a medication that helped him stay symptom free for over a year.
This is a vivid and revealing account of one young man’s pains and hardships while living with a devastating disorder. The book succeeds on two levels - first, it is a candid, intimate account of a devastating mental disorder that’s for more common than assumed - and then an exploration of the mental health stigma and how it’s still considered a taboo subject in today’s American society.
Citing his own experience of visiting various psychiatrists over the course of years and receiving different diagnosis each time, Hostetler questions the effectiveness of the diagnosis process that psychiatrists use to analyze bipolar disorder and other mental illnesses. He goes a step further, questioning the validity of various psychiatric medications and therapies and whether there is any constitutive reality underlying the mental health professionals’ clear-cut classification of mental disorders.
Along the way, he also recounts his struggle with his religion for its stigmatization of mental illness. This deeply moving tale is written with a finely tuned sense of honesty and candor.
This memoir of a nightmarish struggle is both poignant and engrossing.
With a large family that depended entirely on social assistance and disability checks, Hostetler and his siblings struggled to get a decent meal. Born to a bipolar mother and absentee father, Hostetler wrestled with anxiety disorder from a very young age. It leads to the loss of multiple romantic relationships and friendships, making school and work a continuous struggle throughout his life. It was during his sophomore year of college that he went into severe depression and was eventually diagnosed as bipolar. With his grades plunging and critical mood swings, Hostetler was forced to take a break from his studies and moved back home.
Though, he finished his degree later and got a nicely-paying job, his battle with depression and suicidal thoughts didn’t end. He saw various medical professionals in hope of getting a proper treatment, but years of relentless struggle with mania and depression and broken relationships had taken a toll on his mental health, leading to hospitalization in a psychiatric facility. But he didn’t lose hope, and eventually settled on a medication that helped him stay symptom free for over a year.
This is a vivid and revealing account of one young man’s pains and hardships while living with a devastating disorder. The book succeeds on two levels - first, it is a candid, intimate account of a devastating mental disorder that’s for more common than assumed - and then an exploration of the mental health stigma and how it’s still considered a taboo subject in today’s American society.
Citing his own experience of visiting various psychiatrists over the course of years and receiving different diagnosis each time, Hostetler questions the effectiveness of the diagnosis process that psychiatrists use to analyze bipolar disorder and other mental illnesses. He goes a step further, questioning the validity of various psychiatric medications and therapies and whether there is any constitutive reality underlying the mental health professionals’ clear-cut classification of mental disorders.
Along the way, he also recounts his struggle with his religion for its stigmatization of mental illness. This deeply moving tale is written with a finely tuned sense of honesty and candor.
This memoir of a nightmarish struggle is both poignant and engrossing.
December 5, 2020
A meditation on Hostetler’s life-long dealings with bipolar disorder and depression, this memoir beautifully evokes the maniac high and depressing low periods of turmoil whose symptoms included Hostetler’s fervent mania, insomnia, suicidal thoughts, deep feeling of worthlessness, inability to carry on routine job, and loss of interest in life in general leading to psychiatric treatment and hospitalization.
Born into a large poverty-stricken family, Hostetler struggled with severe anxiety throughout his childhood. The sudden onset of bipolar disorder related extreme mania and severe depression during his sophomore year of college, sent him to seek help from mental health professionals. As maintaining friendships and romantic relationship and carrying on simple task of studying and work became a constant struggle, Hostetler didn’t lose hope and continued with his treatment, eventually finding a medication that cured him.
In crisp prose, Hostetler chronicles his struggles with the debilitating mental health condition and its effect on his ability to form and maintain relationships, his experimentation with various psychiatric drugs and therapies, and his struggles with his faith and mental health stigma.
In telling his story, Hostetler not only sheds light on the devastating condition but also offers a ray of hope to those struggling with bipolar disorder.
This affecting account will stay with readers for a long time.
Born into a large poverty-stricken family, Hostetler struggled with severe anxiety throughout his childhood. The sudden onset of bipolar disorder related extreme mania and severe depression during his sophomore year of college, sent him to seek help from mental health professionals. As maintaining friendships and romantic relationship and carrying on simple task of studying and work became a constant struggle, Hostetler didn’t lose hope and continued with his treatment, eventually finding a medication that cured him.
In crisp prose, Hostetler chronicles his struggles with the debilitating mental health condition and its effect on his ability to form and maintain relationships, his experimentation with various psychiatric drugs and therapies, and his struggles with his faith and mental health stigma.
In telling his story, Hostetler not only sheds light on the devastating condition but also offers a ray of hope to those struggling with bipolar disorder.
This affecting account will stay with readers for a long time.
December 26, 2020
I won this book in the giveaway drawing. It is a heartbreaking journey about the author's life in dealing with bipolar disorder. His journey begins in college and shows how despite many gains that have been made in the medical field, we still have yet to make more leaps and bounds with regards to mental health.
February 17, 2021
Remarkable portrayal
This story is a well written account of a disease process that sends a person on a wild roller coaster ride through life as well as their loved ones. Very insightful.
This story is a well written account of a disease process that sends a person on a wild roller coaster ride through life as well as their loved ones. Very insightful.
January 1, 2021
Great book!
So brave of the author to write about his life and his story. It helps to be able to understand what life is like for him. Also has many resources at the end.
So brave of the author to write about his life and his story. It helps to be able to understand what life is like for him. Also has many resources at the end.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews