The Episode: A True Story of Loss, Madness and Healing (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781405973243)

"A must-read: it hits you right in the heart." --Katriona O'Sullivan, author of Poor
"Written in beautifully honest prose... a gripping and important book." --Horatio Clare, The Telegraph
"Compelling." --Irish Examiner
"A story of tenacity and bravery... visceral." --The Irish Times

It could happen to anyone.

One April day, Mary Ann Kenny's husband died suddenly while jogging near their family home. In the months that followed, Mary Ann--who had no previous history of mental illness--fell into deep depression, followed by a terrifying cascade of physical and psychological symptoms. Among them was the delusion that her young children had been harmed by her medication.

In The Episode, Mary Ann offers an unflinching, deeply moving account of her descent into psychosis, her hospitalization, and her remarkable journey back to health. Drawing on detailed medical records as well as her own recollections, she reconstructs her experience day by day, capturing what it feels like to lose touch with reality while grieving and living with the unbearable belief that everything you love is under threat.

The book also tells a powerful story of recovery: how Mary Ann reclaimed her life, came to terms with trauma, and spoke honestly to the health system about the limits of medical psychiatry. Written with the pace of a thriller and the insight of a psychological novel, The Episode is a profound act of personal reclamation.

It reminds us that severe mental illness can affect anyone--and that recovery, meaning, and happiness remain possible even after the darkest experiences.