Electroboy: A Memoir of Mania

Despite all the bad reviews, I liked this book very much. I was recently diagnosed with this same disorder and could relate to many of his thoughts. I think Andy Behrman did a good job not only describing his illness,ie.OCD symptoms and narcissism, but can actually poke fun at himself. Having this disorder, I have found that finding a bit of humor can be a saving grace at times. Thank you Andy for a book well done. From one manic to another you wrote a good one depicting the ramble that goes thru our heads.

The book seems to be divided into two parts: the first, mania; the second, depression and recovery. The first part is total mania, like a apeeding train rushing into trouble. He resists no impulse of any sort. 'Anything worth doing is worth overdoing' seems to be his credo. Impulse cash purchase of a round-trip ticket to Tokyo? Yes, he's done it. Any possible tawdry activity in Times Square. Yes. Shopping himself into a guilty funk? ($8,000 in three hours on clothes.) That too. He gets a high-paying job in the art world that fits perfectly with his mania. Now his incredible jetting around the world is a requirement of that job. In the second part, wild cycles from elation to despair fill the pages. His solution involves the title -- electroshock. And lots of prescibed psychoactive drugs. He must be one of the most medicated people on the planet, certainly for a mentally troubled person outside of a hospital. He takes 15 pills every night -- nine diffrent drugs. Some of the drugs require he take other drugs. His anti-psychotic drug needs more pills to control its side effects. Then, too, he becomes an electroshock abuser. He takes lots of the treatments, at least partly because he loves the anesthesia given beforehand! This is both a fast-reading rollercoaster of a book and yet profondly sad. It's not a book of great insight, but at least to me, it seems an accurate narration of a scarey mental world.

Sometimes, being a therapist, you forget what real true mania looks like because you don't get to see it too often. Granted, you see some hypomania, but you don't see the graphicness of true mania: $20,000 Barney's shopping sprees, prostitution, 3 a.m. random travel to wherever, or lying, cheating, and stealing without fear of getting caught. Reading this book was like watching a horrible TV special on fast-forward (horrible because it made you feel uncomfortable for Behrman and also for the people he knew, not because it was written poorly). I read paragraphs out loud to other therapists and they told me to stop because they couldn't follow what he was talking about. I sat and shook my head, thinking, "You did WHAT?" I definitely suggest this book to anyone who is interested in knowing what a full-blown manic episode looks like and all the possible ways that the psychiatric community can deal with it

From the perspective of having suffered with manic-depressive illness for twenty-seven years I had great interest in reading, Electroboy: A Memior of Mania. I had read every autobiographical account that I could get my hands on. No other work that I had read affected me as deeply as Andy Behrman's book.I devoured Electroboy in four hours. I became hypo-manic when I read it. Other accounts of the disease that I have read DESCRIBE the mood swings that one experiences having the disease, Andy Behrman makes you FEEL his highs and lows along with him. Andy Behrman's brutal honesty about his manic behaviors helped me to understand my own. I know longer feel the shame that I once felt and have achieved a self accetance that I never had before through his writing. My whole life I felt that I was speaking a language that no one understood. After reading Electroboy I felt understood. Andy Behrman understood me. The best part that a family member read the book and told me that after reading Electroboy she finally understood my illness after all these years. That understanding is a major accomplishment for which I would like to thank Andy Behrman for. When I got to the last chapter entitled Bodega Roses I did not know that it was the last. But through his words I sensed it and cried. I cried because it was over and I did not want it to end. In summary Andy Behrman's writing style is quick-witted and heart warming. It is a memior that in my eyes is the anthem for those who suffer from this serious disease and a helpful tool for family, friends and loved ones who live with those afflicted.

Electroboy infused me with enough wattage to light up my day-- yes I read this page-turner in a day, unable to put it down. Behrman's manic hijinx were alternately hilarious and terrrifying. His jet-setting, drug infused, sexually charged escapades come at a price and his struggle through electroshock therapy, prison (though his is definitely a minimum security cake walk) therapy and getting himself a taste of sanity is as gripping as the ride through hell. Most intriguing was the honesty with which Behrman examines his post-manic life. Though partly pleased to be out from the escalating madness he expresses feelings of regret-- Behrman seems to miss his over-the-top existence. I regret having finished this book so quickly.