The Kilmer Cure

The problem with most books on mental illness is that they are written by doctors. That is a great approach if you want to perform some experiments, or learn words like “psychopharmacology,” but doctors are trained to treat patients like their illnesses—like a collection of symptoms. And I have never reacted very well to being treated like that.

In 2010, I lost my insurance, forcing me to go off my bipolar medications. To cope, I staged my own private Kilmerfest, burning my way through Val Kilmer’s filmography in lieu of lithium. And I wrote The Kilmer Cure, a book about my experience and a manual to bipolar disorder from the patient’s point of view, talking about the disease not just as a biological occurrence, but also as a day-to-day experience. I wrote in layman’s terms, and to illustrate my points I used examples from Val Kilmer movies, since he was there with me all the way in a way my doctors weren’t.

This is not a self-help book. This is a field guide.