"Now with a new bonus chapter"--cover. Previously published with the subtitle "My Journey to the Edge of Madness"-- title page verso.
Contents:
Part one : insomnia. ABC wants to know -- His heart -- Sting and the radiant boy -- Easter egg blue -- The night rises and grows pale -- Scribbles on a page -- Part two : the book of sleep. Manic -- Blur -- Redemption and the manga chick -- Pool of the pelvis -- Specimen haze -- Slip 'n' slide -- Stage of the bargain -- Into the soft air -- Part three : Dr. Amazing. "It's an incredible drug" -- The lost year -- Cave-in -- The sky is falling -- "Kiss the kids, I'm sorry" --- Blazing green with no red in sight -- Siberia -- Part four : great balls of fire. Down by five -- Hunched and cocky -- Five-foot dragon -- Giant black wall of destruction -- Normal -- The insomnia tapes -- Benzos don't have cleavage -- The book of waking -- Metaphor of the holes -- After -- Never not broken.
Summary:
"As Melissa Bond raises her infant daughter and a special-needs one-year-old son, she suffers from unbearable insomnia, sleeping an hour or less each night. She loses her job as a journalist (a casualty of the 2008 recession), and her relationship with her husband grows distant. Her doctor casually prescribes benzodiazepines--a family of drugs that includes Xanax, Valium, Klonopin, Ativan--and increases her dosage regularly. Following her doctor's orders, Melissa takes the pills night after night until her body begins to shut down. Only when she collapses while holding her daughter does Melissa learn that her doctor--like so many others--has over-prescribed the medication and quitting cold turkey could lead to psychosis or fatal seizures. Benzodiazepine addiction is not well studied, and few experts know how to help Melissa as she begins the months-long process of tapering off the pills without suffering debilitating, potentially deadly consequences. Each page thrums with the heartbeat of Melissa's struggle--how many hours has she slept? How many weeks old are her babies? How many milligrams has she taken? Her propulsive writing crescendos to a fever pitch as she fights for her health and her ability to care for her children."-- adapted from page [4] of cover.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.