Bainbridge woman writes book about bipolar disorder

Sep. 1—A Bainbridge woman has written a book about living with a husband and daughter who were diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

Wilma Cotten said her goal is to help other people. "I want people to know they're not alone," she said. "One of the worst things about bipolar disorder is that caregivers feel isolated. People don't understand what we're going through."

She said it was hard finding support groups for caregivers.

She said her book, "Is the Swing High or Low? Living with Someone with Bipolar Disorder," begins with a definition of the disorder. She then talks about meeting her ex-husband in college and raising a daughter. Both were diagnosed with bipolar disorder in their 20s.

Cotten, who grew up in Sidney Center, said it was a struggle to get her daughter, Andrea, the medical care she needed where they lived in Colorado, and her daughter started to self medicate with illegal drugs. She said she helped her "through all of her arrests, probation and rehab," but when her daughter turned violent toward her, she kicked her out of the house.

Her daughter was homeless. She was murdered at age 28 in 2014 by her drug dealers, Cotten said. "My life was completely different," she said. "I lost everything. My daughter, my job, my home."

Cotten said from October 2014 until March and April 2016, when the trials of Andrea's murderers were over, she was "totally numb." She said, "When I finally started to feel better, I noticed I had concentration problems; balance issues. I was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and placed on Social Security Disability."

Cotten moved back to New York and lived with her brother. She assisted in remodeling a house and started writing about her experience and found it therapeutic. It took about a year and-a-half to write down all her thoughts. She saw an ad in the local Pennysaver from Dorrance Publishing about publishing books, so she sent in her manuscript. "They said it was something they would publish," she said. She started working on the editing process in January, then the design of the book. The promotional campaign will begin at the end of September, she said.

"I'm now talking to people about what I went through," she said. "I was isolated for so long."

In addition to what she went through, Cotten included excerpts from her daughter's journal, to show what was going through her mind. The excerpts talked about her hopes and dreams and about suicide. "It shows how she struggled with it," she said.

The book, which is a print-by-demand publication, is available as an ebook and in print at https://tinyurl.com/2tuxkrty.

Vicky Klukkert, staff writer, can be reached at vklukkert@thedailystar.com or 607-441-7221.