6
Wednesday, August 19, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Local author takes readers beyond depression
By T. Lee Brown
Correspondent
Feeling blue? Ever feel
like the blues won9t lift?
You9re not alone. Millions of
Americans live with depres-
sion. What might come as a
surprise: about half of those
diagnosed with depression are
eventually re-diagnosed with
bipolar disorder.
That9s according to local
author and Episcopal priest
Willa Goodfellow. Her book
<Prozac Monologues: A Voice
from the Edge= launches
on August 28 with a virtual
Paulina Springs Books event
also featuring Marean Jordan.
<Half. A fifty percent
grade? When I went to school
that was way failing,= she told
The Nugget. <They just don9t
do a very good job of diag-
nosing bipolar until it is late-
stage.= She hopes her book
will help change that.
With a bachelor9s degree
from Reed College, a mas-
ters from Yale, and over three
decades working as a minis-
ter, Goodfellow is bright and
personable. Yet depression
made her <non-functional= on
and off throughout her life.
When she was 52 years
old, it came on strong. Her
primary physician diag-
nosed her with depression;
Goodfellow tried the herb St.
John9s Wort and made life-
style changes. Eventually the
doctor <brought out the big
guns= and prescribed Prozac.
Usually easygoing,
Goodfellow found herself
highly irritable.
<I was really on edge,=
she said. <I couldn9t concen-
trate, I had real trouble sleep-
ing, and things kind of went
downhill from there.=
Some imagine that people
with bipolar disorder (also
known as manic-depressive
illness) experience blissfully
happy moods and low, sad
ones. Goodfellow character-
ized the up phase as being
more about energy than mood.
<Depression is really about
mood, low mood,= she said.
High energy <might be either
a good mood or a bad mood.
And that high energy is called
either mania or hypomania.=
<Mania gets you into
trouble,= Goodfellow elabo-
rated. She cited spending
sprees, blowing up at people,
and risky behavior as typical
examples. <Things that get
you divorced, bankrupt, fired,
arrested, and hospitalized.=
She experiences the
less intense version, called
hypomania.
<It9s just ratcheted down a
little,= she explained.
Both are accompanied by
a feeling of pressure, <when
you can9t stop talking, you
can9t stop thinking, you just
can9t stop.= Creativity is often
associated with bipolar dis-
order; this may be related to
a symptom called <flight of
ideas.= (See story, page 7.)
Goodfellow described her
mental processes as <con-
necting all the dots that are
out there.= Her book9s mono-
logues, written during a trip to
Costa Rica after Prozac sent
her into hypomania, offer a
sample of the style: associa-
tive, humorous, and all over
the map.
<It9s really important to me
to use humor, so that we can
tolerate looking at what oth-
erwise would be intolerable,=
Goodfellow said. <It puts a
frame around an experience
and allows you to distance
yourself from it.=
She finds humor in the
Bible and uses it in sermons.
<Prozac Monologues=
intersperses Goodfellow9s
hypomanic Costa Rica mem-
oirs with useful information
and measured thinking about
mental health.
The book9s dedication
reads, <I wrote this for you.=
Goodfellow explained that
this includes doctors, to
encourage them to become
better at diagnosing patients.
<I wrote it for friends and
family, to help them under-
stand what9s going on. And
I wrote it for people who are
suffering and can9t figure out
why.=
<Some of it was really
addressed specifically, like,
8Now I9m talking to you, the
one in the pajamas9 4people
who have depression that is
not getting better,= she said.
Goodfellow grew up in
Colorado. The state of Iowa
was her home for 32 years,
but it was time to move on.
Visiting her wife9s sister in
Sisters, Goodfellow felt better
here.
<The mountains were in
the right space, the pine was
just fabulous to smell, and
this little town& it was just
idyllic,= Goodfellow said.
<We live on this street called
Songbird! It9s like a scene out
of The Truman Show.=
Working life can be diffi-
cult for bipolar people.
<I can get overwhelmed,=
Goodfellow acknowledged.
She works with a small
congregation in Prineville, but
phased herself out of preach-
ing to focus on the book.
PHOTO BY TL BROWN
Sisters author Willa Goodfellow shows off an advanced reader’s edition
of her book Prozac Monologues, launching August 28 with a virtual event
hosted by Paulina Springs Books.
As a minister, she has pro-
vided support and deep listen-
ing to others.
<People9s needs are so
immense, and they9re in so
many different kinds of pain,=
she said. <The whole COVID
thing 4 taking a pill isn9t
going to fix how you feel
about the fact that you can9t
make rent.=
Sometimes people need
medication, she said, but
sometimes they need a pair of
ears.
Dedication and passion are
central to her mission.
<This diagnosis issue is a
matter of life and death,= she
said, citing two memoirs writ-
ten by people whose loved
ones were misdiagnosed.
Both patients ended up
committing suicide, leaving
parents and partners to tell the
tale.
<That9s real!= Goodfellow
said. <And it could have been
me. By the grace of God it
was not.=
Register for the Oregon
book launch party at https://
tinyurl.com/willa-good
fellow-launch. To join the
author9s mailing list, see
www.willagoodfellow.com.
THE GARDEN ANGEL
Organic landscaping...
We fee d the soil!
Have a great summ er, Sisters!
23 years in business • LCB#9583
541-549-2882