Whatever we call it - mind, character, soul - we like to think we possess something that is greater than the sum of our neurons and that animates us.

Which is worse, overload or underload? Luckily, I never had to choose. One or Pass on to where? Back into my cells to lurk like a virus waiting for the next opportunity? Out into the ether of the world to wait for the circumstances that would provoke its reappearance? Endogenous or exogenous, nature or nurture - it's the great mystery of mental illness.

Mental illness seems to be a communication problem between interpreters one and two.

A successful suicide demands good organization and a cool head, both of which are usually incompatible with the suicidal state of mind.

The only way to stay sane is to go a little crazy.

I needed to be alone, I felt. I wanted to be going on alone to my future.

My family had a lot of characteristics - achievements, ambitions, talents, expectations - that all seemed to be recessive in me.