The Path

The Year Is 2007 And I?M Just Now Completing The Writing Of This Book Which I Began During The Spring Of 1999. I Can Be A Procrastinator But There Were Also Other Reasons For Taking So Long. My Father Past Away In 2000 And This Had A Profound Affect My Disorder And Eventually I Ended Up In A Va Hospital In Kansas For About Six Months. From What I Understand My Manic Episodes Were Much Like Those Of Others Except That One Psychiatrist Has Told Me That Mine Were Mostly In A Manic State. Please Understand That Anyone With This Disorder Will Also Experience Periods Of Depression And I Most Certainly Have Done That. I Would Gradually Find Myself Going Into A Euphoric State Of Mind Which Was A ?Great High? At First.I Would Suffer My First Manic Episode During My First Tour Of Duty In Vietnam While Serving With The 173D (Abn) Bde. I Was Diagnosed With Having Battle Fatigue. Little Was Known About Manic Depression In 1967 Or At Least In Vietnam. I Was So Ashamed Of Myself For Allowing This To Happen To Me That I Would Volunteer Two More Times To Go Back To Vietnam. I Felt I Needed To Prove Myself To Be Brave. I Would Not Have Another Episode For Sixteen Years But I?M Confident That As I Look Back To Some Of The Bazaar Behavior Pattern Demonstrated Throughout The Years Both In Vietnam And Also During The Years Leading Up To My Retirement From The Army I Have Had Minor Type Episodes.