Stacy Pershall

I came across this book on Audible, which is fortunate because my brain is too addled these days to concentrate on the written word for anything longer than a couple of pages. Living with BPD for sixty years, with a relentless turnover of medications and numerous breakdowns has seen to that. Yet, as Stacy writes, stories are such an important part of life and recovery. So I persevere.

Stacy really spoke straight to my heart. I’m not like her. Borderlines come in all shapes and sizes, and show more whilst we may have some symptomology in common we are as diverse as the stars. Like Stacy, I was always ‘different’, socially awkward, and too emotionally intense. Had I had the opportunity, I too would have explored literature and art when I was young, but was instead directed towards engineering and eventually management. I never had an eating disorder though - my Achilles heel was alcohol and sex as a means of coping, or more accurately not coping, with intense emotions.

But despite our differences I could relate to so much of what was written in this book. The intense feelings, the difficulty in making decisions, the wild and sometimes totally irrational behaviours, the psychic pain, the suicide attempts.

This book had the effect of helping me to feel less alone, that there is at least one more person out there who ‘gets it’. I only wish that DBT was available in the U.K. as it is in the U.S. It might have saved me a lot of unnecessary pain over the years. show less

"Loud In the House of Myself: Memoir of a Strange Girl" is a new book by Stacy Pershall. Of course, I was immediately drawn to this memoir, because it is a) a memoir b) about a "strange girl" and c) deals with mental illness. Yay! Since I'm undoubtably a strange mentally ill girl, I knew I had to read this. Pershall writes about her life growing up in Arkansas and her morphing from an über-sensitive child into a teenager and young adult with Borderline and Bipolar issues. Anyone familiar show more with the mental illness memoir genre will certainly have heard of Elizabeth Wurtzel, and I just bring her up, because UNLIKE Wurtzel, Pershall is not whiny in her writing! Pershall is matter-of-fact about her trials and symptoms, even though the reader can imagine the actual playing out of illness to be much more harsh and unbearable.

Pershall describes her unrelenting eating disorder, mood swings and suicide attempts with a steady and precise hand. This book seems really accessible to me, because Pershall speaks not only to those of us who have been through the mental health care system, but also to people who might not really understand this special weirdness. The only thing I would like to see more of in this book is more OF this book! haha. Seriously though, I enjoyed reading this memoir and would love to read more from Pershall. I would especially recommend this book to people struggling with Borderline Personality Disorder. There is a special misery only known by Borderlines that is never really represented in the books that ostensibly deal with Borderline Personality Disorder. I really wish there were more accounts like this that show the uncrazy through the crazy of Borderline Personality Disorder. show less

An incredibly brutal tale of one woman’s continuous experience with the life altering disease known as ‘bipolar disorder’. It is a roller coaster ride of mistakes and heart break that leads the reader on one hell of a journey; that forces the realness of mental illness onto the open pages of a book. The story is about a woman named Stacy Pershall and the readers are introduced to her through the eyes of a crazed child. The author describes what was going on inside the mind of an show more undiagnosed bipolar child and how she related to the world. The story continues to discuss her childhood and gradually ages her into adolescence and finally to adulthood. Continuous experiences are shared with the reader, which show how she managed to survive by the skin of her teeth and pure luck, while being undiagnosed. The author also provides symptoms of the disease and uses her own behavior as examples. She gives a personal inside experience of what happened to her when she was finally diagnosed and what the inside of a mental hospital was like. The author leaves little out and is brutally honest in her telling of her past experiences. By sharing her struggles, she has become an advocate for those that fight with this cruel disease.

I must say that this was a very difficult, but interesting book to read. As a parent to a recently diagnosed nine year old with bipolar disorder, I plan on learning as much as I can about the disease. Reading this book gave me both hope and fear. I had to take breaks at times when I read the book, due to the heart break that I felt by some of the author’s choices. I thought about my daughter and imagined her doing this. However, as the book progressed I watched the author grow as a person and saw how she was able to subdue her demons and manage her disease. That alone has given me the strength that I need to continue to fight another day. When I see stories such as this, I know that we are not alone. I am so happy that the author is well and am grateful that she published this book. It was well written and full of grit. It might not be for everyone, but it was what I needed right now in my life. show less

Loud in the House of Myself: Memoir of a Strange Girl, by Stacy Pershall, is a riveting tale of life set askew by mental illness. For more than 30 years, Stacy has struggled with anorexia, bulimia and depression as a result of her bipolar and borderline personality disorders. Her memoir tracks the emergence of these disorders with straightforward honesty and raw emotion. Descriptions of her multiple suicide attempts, failed romantic relationships, and obsession with body image are so laden show more with heartfelt personal insight, the reader can readily feel Pershall’s pain and anger. She offers vivid insight into a life lived with mental dysfunction and the fear of never shedding it, giving us pause to examine our own hurts and hurdles, be thankful for what we have and courage to overcome what we lack. I liked this book for its sheer veracity and boldness. Stacy Pershall has shown us herself, unrestrained, and deserves kudos not only for finally breaking free, but for harnessing her exceptional creative talent in a volume both moving and enthralling. show less