This was an interesting memoir about a young married couple. Mark, the husband who is writing, is shocked when his wife Julia experiences a psychotic break for no apparent reason at age 27. She has no history of mental illness in her family, and the whole things seems to come out of nowhere. It was, of course, quite terrifying for Mark, and for Julia's parents, who rush to the couple's side immediately.
The story is about how Mark copes with this, and I think he really tries to give an honest account. The natural tendency of anyone in this kind of situation would be to portray themselves as the suffering saint in the relationship, and although he does do that somewhat, he mostly tries to give a balanced account. He gives some credence to Julia's own feelings and point of view, and he acknowledges mistakes.
The whole thing was very interesting, and scary, in that "it-could-happen-to-anyone-even-YOU" kind of way. I will say that it certainly reminds us of the importance of sleep; it's pretty clear to me that un-remedied sleeplessness was what initially sent poor Julia over the edge, whether or not that was the primary cause of the incident.
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