Unlocked: 25 Keys to Recovering from Depression, Anxiety or Bipolar Disorder

by Emily Grossman

Overview

Being diagnosed with depression, anxiety, or bipolar disorder can create suffering that goes far beyond the symptoms of the illness itself. A psychiatric diagnosis can take away a person’s confidence and even her sense of humanity.

In Unlocked, Emily Grossman, who was hospitalized a dozen times with bipolar disorder, and nearly institutionalized in her teens and twenties, shares her own story, and offers you 25 keys to recovery.

She shows you that the challenge of mental illness can actually help you to discover and live your life purpose. In this book, Emily invites you to ask yourself, “What if mental illness is not a crisis but a springboard to my higher self?

Through a series of spiritual lessons, Unlocked will help you to discover strategies such as:

• Finding an authentic spiritual practice
• Learning to trust your instincts
• Developing critical coping skills
• Pushing through inertia
• Riding the waves of intense emotions
• Finding happiness within
• Developing true compassion for oneself and others
• And much much more!

By applying the “keys” in this book, you will not only feel better, you will live better.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781722506520
Publisher:	G&D Media
Publication date:	10/17/2023
Pages:	222
Product dimensions:	(w) x (h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Emily Grossman, MA, CPRP, NYCPS-P, has worked in mental health for over a decade, beginning on the “front lines” as a mental health peer specialist in community mental health in NJ. After several years, she transitioned to doing mental health provider training and systems change work at large organizations such as The Jewish Board, Columbia’s Center for Practice Innovations, and the New York Association of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services (NYAPRS). In 2018, she was the winner of the National Council for Mental Wellbeing's prestigious “Peer Specialist of the Year” Award. Currently, Emily is the Director of the Training Institute at Coordinated Behavioral Care and has a small private peer specialist practice. Emily frequently speaks nationally about mental health recovery. She holds a Master’s in Education from Columbia University. She lives in New Jersey.

Read an Excerpt

Prelude

Locked Up

I will never forget the helpless look on my parents’ faces. It was 1996, and it was supposed to be my first semester of freshman year in college. As the large-framed orderly pulled me through the hall and behind the heavy doors, I screamed, “No, no, no, let me go home.” Looking behind me, I could see Mom leaning on Dad’s shoulder, crying, as he rubbed her back to console her. I flailed my arms and legs. I tried to break free of the orderly’s strong grip and wrestled with him futilely until the heavy doors slammed shut and locked behind us with a hollow click.

That click represented more than doors locking: it sep­arated me from not only my parents but from life as I had known it up to point. I know a piece of me remained behind those heavy, gray metal doors, as if my soul had been left on the other side of them. 

I tried to assess my surroundings through my tears and perceived everything as misshapen. The people roaming the 10 halls aimlessly were distorted in much the way that a fun house mirror shrinks or stretches out objects depending upon the angle at which you look at them. My tears made every­thing fuzzy and out of focus. My head throbbed, my throat was scratchy from screaming, and I was physically exhausted from the intense events of the day.

I wiped my eyes enough to notice the cold, pale blue walls, which I would learn later were a mental institution cliché. Some psychologist somewhere had believed light blue to be a calming color, so most of these psych wards were painted in this shade, which I grew to detest. Like bank tellers, nurses sat motion­lessly behind a thick glass window with a hole on the bottom for speaking through. They were staring at the patients walk­ing by, watching us as if we were fish in an aquarium. Even with the bright fluorescent lights, the place felt totally dark.

On the walls were posters with trite sayings like “One day at a time” and “Easy does it.” I felt deeply resentful of the peo­ple who decided to hang such posters on the wall. It’s easy for them to give advice when they aren’t held against their will in a psych ward. 

“C’mon in, and let’s get some linens for your bed,” the orderly said, trying to be warm and nonjudgmental. But let’s be real: he was judging. My identity from that moment on was going to be forever changed. This orderly would be the first to greet me not as Emily Grossman, eighteen-year-old Emory Universityfreshman with all the promise in the world, but as Emily Grossman, the eighteen-year-old mental patient. It was as if by handing me those starchy white sheets, this man was handing me my future, one that looked extremely bleak. 

Editorial Reviews

Grossman presents a set of life rules derived from her own struggle with mental health. The author begins her nonfiction debut with vivid memories of being institutionalized in the late 1990s and her transformation from “Emily Grossman, eighteen-year-old Emory Universityfreshman with all the promise in the world” to “Emily Grossman, the eighteen-year-old mental patient.” Her experiences dealing with bipolar disorder have prompted herto write a book that attempts to pull together all the “moving parts” of her recovery to help put her readers in “the driver’s seat” when it comes to their own recoveries (and perhaps to encourage them to connect with their own “Higher Self” or “Higher Power”). Grossman grounds her chapters in distinct periods of her history, from childhood to college at Rutgers and beyond (including living in New York City on September 11, 2001: “We were waiting to hear from Dad. Classes were canceled. The air was heavy”), interweaving her struggles with bipolar disorder throughout the narrative. She infuses her memories with novelistic drama, turning remembered conversations into dialogue. And she seamlessly links these dramatic autobiographical sections to broader observations she’s drawn from them (usually focusing on her concept of God or a “Higher Power”). “The hard part is trusting the Universe,” she writes in one such passage; “but you will be given signs from Grace about whether you are on the right path.” The tone throughout is gently but strongly encouraging; although her explicitly spiritual approach may put off non-religious readers, her optimism is infectious: Life, she notes, is not about avoiding problems; it’s about “learning to dive headfirst into the fire, feel you’ve been almost burned alive, and come out the other side, scars and all.” Readers open to her message will appreciate the bucking-up. An empowering, scars-and-all handbook for reaching your best self. - KIRKUS REVIEWS

Unlocked, Emily Grossman's unfiltered account of her journey through mental illness offers readers a treasure trove of hope and encouragement,combined with real-world ways to make positive change in your life. With each chapter, she distills lessons learned that are empowering and actionable — small ways of reframing obstacles, practical steps to move toward a goal, gentle reminders that you possess all that you need within you already. Her nuggets of advice are grounded in her spiritual practice, Buddhism, which she invites readers to translate in any way that is relatable, such as any power beyond yourself that you can imagine as nurturing and supportive. Her honest storytelling and depictions of the people and systems that both helped and hindered along the way underscore the importance of social support, the (continued) inadequacies of our health system and urgency to reform it, and the reality that even from our depths, we can find a new beginning.- Chantel Garrett, MPH Founding Director, Strong365 Community,Co-founder, Strong365 Lab

"Unlocked is a powerful book full of vulnerability and hope. Emily shares the ups and downs of her mental health recovery journey with authenticity, honesty, and candor. Nothing is sugar coated. She puts a human face on mental health challenges that can often be misunderstood, and her “keys” can be useful to each of us, whether we’re living with a mental illness or otherwise. - Matt Kudish, Exective Director, NAMI NYC

"For those living with bipolar, suicidal ideation, depression and/or anxiety (as I do),Unlockedwraps you in a beautiful warm blanket of relatability as author, Emily Grossman, shares her own lived experiences with searing honesty and vulnerability. The 25 keys she presents to help navigate these challenges in order to live a more enlightened and empowered life are framed as retrospective lessons she learnt often the hard way. Her battle-tested insights resonated loud and clear. Indeed, they’re already helping me accelerate my own inner journey to wellness. She also eloquently reminds us that those with mental illnesses deserve to be seen, heard and valued. If you’re struggling or stuck (or know someone who is), pick up this powerful book. Don’t just bounce back, bounce forward. - Kerry Martin, MPP, Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Advocate

"Unlocked, From Psych Hospital to Higher Self will prove a game changer for people on a spiritual path who are also managing bipolar or depression."- Mitch Horowitz, Author ofThe Miracle Club

From the Publisher

2023-08-01
Grossman presents a set of life rules derived from her own struggle with mental health.

The author begins her nonfiction debut with vivid memories of being institutionalized in the late 1990s and her transformation from “Emily Grossman, eighteen-year-old Emory University freshman with all the promise in the world” to “Emily Grossman, the eighteen-year-old mental patient.” Her experiences dealing with bipolar disorder have prompted her to write a book that attempts to pull together all the “moving parts” of her recovery to help put her readers in “the driver’s seat” when it comes to their own recoveries (and perhaps to encourage them to connect with their own “Higher Self” or “Higher Power”). Grossman grounds her chapters in distinct periods of her history, from childhood to college at Rutgers and beyond (including living in New York City on September 11, 2001: “We were waiting to hear from Dad. Classes were canceled. The air was heavy”), interweaving her struggles with bipolar disorder throughout the narrative. She infuses her memories with novelistic drama, turning remembered conversations into dialogue. And she seamlessly links these dramatic autobiographical sections to broader observations she’s drawn from them (usually focusing on her concept of God or a “Higher Power”). “The hard part is trusting the Universe,” she writes in one such passage; “but you will be given signs from Grace about whether you are on the right path.” The tone throughout is gently but strongly encouraging; although her explicitly spiritual approach may put off non-religious readers, her optimism is infectious: Life, she notes, is not about avoiding problems; it’s about “learning to dive headfirst into the fire, feel you’ve been almost burned alive, and come out the other side, scars and all.” Readers open to her message will appreciate the bucking-up.

An empowering, scars-and-all handbook for reaching your best self.

Kirkus Reviews