Full Circle – My Success Story Living With Bipolar Disease Betty Ruth Shear’s New Autobiography Offers Hope, Resources Betty Ruth Shear made friends as easily as she made the honor roll. Smart, attractive and popular, a bright future lay ahead for the would-be doctor when life began to spiral out of control. Suddenly, periods of euphoria and unbridled creativity were interrupted by sinister obsessions, suffocating panic and repeated visits to the depths of despair—as well as to a laundry list of mental health institutions. “I have been to the dark side,” says Shear. “I feared I would lose everything to the hell that was in my mind.” Forty years after her diagnosis with bipolar disorder, Shear is a Certified Public Accountant, world traveler and beloved aunt. But happiness didn’t come without struggle. From very public delusions to a deliberate head-on crash of a passenger-filled car, good Jewish girl Betty Ruth Shear reveals her frightening “gonzo ride into madness” in her new, no-holds-barred biography, Full Circle, My Success Story Living with Bipolar Disorder (as told to Joanne Fenton Humphrey). While Shear helps readers better understand the illogical logic of a world view warped by mental illness via a brutally honest, first-person recounting that periodically erupts in short, almost poetic, streams of consciousness, she also offers them the more distanced perspectives of family, friends and caregivers through included interviews. “I didn’t want you to [write the book],” younger brother Howard tells Shear candidly. “I was afraid it would bring you down to a place you don’t want to go again.” But that was a chance she was willing to take, especially if it meant she could offer insight or hope to someone else. “I know there are people out there who are looking for someone or something they can relate to,” says Shear. “Maybe if I had come across a book like this one, it would have made sense to me. I might have understood there was something wrong with me that could be helped.” For a long time, a stigma associated with mental illness prevented Shear from accepting her diagnosis and getting the help that was crucial. “If I’d had another illness like strep throat or cancer and I went to a doctor, I would welcome a diagnosis and the medication that could help make that pain go away,” explains Shear. “I had emotional pain, but a fear of being labeled and locked away wouldn’t allow me to accept the treatment and help I really needed.” Today, Shear hopes more people realize that mental illness is nothing to be ashamed of because, as her niece Janine says in Full Circle, “Struggling with mental illness is no different than any other struggle in life.” With the unwavering support of loving family, close friends and a trusted psychiatrist who “understands that human beings are complex creatures worthy of a course of treatment that takes into account the total person,” Shear has come, as the book’s title says, full circle. She has “emerged, once again, into the light,” and is thriving even after battling her way through a hysterectomy and cancer. Stronger than ever, Shear’s message is one of hope and gratitude. “I wake every day thankful.” Copies of Full Circle are available from the author and online at Amazon and other book retailers. Color . . . Style . . . Transformation . . . Update your look today. Receive a complimentary Chemistry Conditioning Treatment with a Custom Color Transformation, now thru 9/30/15. Look no further than Lavish to get all the latest trends in hair color. Balayage, Ombre, Sombre and Blur. Congratulations on the release of your book, Full Circle. I applaud you for taking such a personal part of your life and sharing it in attempt to help others. It is important and necessary that we remove the stigma of mental illness. Thank you for being an amazing caregiver; it took strength, knowledge, self-awareness and hard work to make your story known. Keep up the great work! Toby Cosgrove, Cleveland Clinic CEO and President #REDKENELITE Salon Today Top 2-Time Winner 200 ©© WHERE WE ONLY DREAM ININ COLOR WHERE WE ONLY DREAM COLOR 216-378-9870 4854 Richmond Road (between Emery and Miles) www.lavishcolorsalon.com appointments@lavishcolorsalon.com Today, Shear hopes more people realize that mental illness is nothing to be ashamed of because, as her niece Janine says in Full Circle, “Struggling with mental illness is no different than any other struggle in life.” 20BeInspiredBuzz n Indulge Beachwood and Indulge Be Inspiredand August 2015 Yourself at Lavish Color Salon