TEXT US: Have a Story? Feedback for the Show?

What happens when your mental health is challenged in the blink of an eye? Can keeping your head down and reading help hold you together?

When a devastating skiing accident in Patagonia leaves her husband, Conrado, in a coma with only a 10% chance of survival, Argentinian born journalist and author Juana Libedinsky suddenly finds herself navigating a stark family medical crisis, confronting uncertainty, and knowing that her life and that of her young children would be changed for a long time—or for good.

In her new book, Downhill: A Memoir of an Accident, Two Comas, Many Books, and Starting Over, Juana recounts how books became an unexpected lifeline. From literary classics like Joan Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking to cozy mysteries and cookbooks, Juana grasped for a book at all times. Keeping the simple act of reading as part of her routine, offered a way to stay grounded amid exhausting days in the ICU waiting room, the burden of questions about care, and the persistent anxiety and fear of losing Conrado.

Juana and Janine also explore Argentina's remarkably open culture around mental illness, where there is less stigma and shame about seeking care to stay on top of your mental health. They explore the kindness of friends and strangers, and the peculiar pressure to emerge from a crisis stronger, wiser, and transformed. Perhaps resilience isn't always about transformation. Sometimes it's about holding on to the ordinary pleasures and people we already love.

Buy Downhill Here

Juana's Instagram Here @jlibedinsky

Support the show

Bipolar She is dedicated to real conversations for women living with mental illness. Hosted by Janine Noel, the majority of episodes give voice to a woman who has lived-life experience with mental illness--or who has experienced the illness of someone close to them. Along the way, I interview experts in the field that address additional mental health concerns.

Frankly, coping with a mental health condition can be exhausting. Here's a place where you can land and find an episode that resonates with you. Some topics we've covered: being a bipolar mom or having a bipolar mom. Anxiety, agoraphobia, chronic depression, ECT, borderline personality disorder, ADHD, a psychiatrist that breaks your trust. A therapist who goes above and beyond to help you. The impact of trauma on your brain.

Bipolar She couldn't have thrived without guitarist, JD Cullum's original music.

Editor Brandon Moran makes everyone's voice sound both crisper and smarter.

Sponsored by Amy Vincze's Emotional Freedom Technique App: Soar With Tapping.