Hi there. I'm putting all new featured mail on the site. So if you write to me and are willing to have your letter on the site, let me know. If you want me to withhold your name, let me know too. Thanks! Lizzie 9/27/06 Hi Lizzie, I'm 20 years old and was just diagnosed with bipolar disorder at the beginning of this month after having a manic episode from Wellbutrin. I read your book, "Detour", last week, and just wanted to say thank you. In the beginning, you said you wanted to write the book so that a young woman, just diagnosed with the illness, would have hope for the future. You succeeded. I had just gotten out of the hospital, where i was for a week after a suicide attempt, when i read "Detour". I was (am) scared about the future, about having to tell everyone who ever got close to me that i am mentally ill, about the future manias and depressions, about whether one day i will be able to have "normal" children. I was (am) confused about how much of me is the illness or the medication, and how much of the real me actually remains. Your book gave me hope. Reading about you and the other men and women who have learned to live with their illness, instead of giving up, or fighting with it their entire lives, made me actually want to have a future. I know it will be hard, but knowing that there are people out there who feel like i do, but triumph, has taught me that just because i am bipolar, does not mean that i am defective. It just means that life is that much sweeter because of the struggle i have gone through, and maybe will go through again. I'm not sure how much sense this e-mail makes. It is hard to put into words how much your book helped me. Once again, thank you so much for giving me hope. Sincerely, -------