You don't have to explain the storm to someone who's lived it.
I write about bipolar disorder, psychosis, hospitalization, and the slow, unglamorous work of rebuilding afterward — so you feel a little less alone in it. My memoir,Daybreak, is the long version of the story.
Notes from the other side of the storm
Honest, unpolished writing about what bipolar disorder actually feels like from the inside. This is the heart of the site — the book is the long version.
Bipolar Disorder Is Not a Mood: What the Word Actually Means
"The weather is so bipolar today." Here's why that phrase lands differently when you have the diagnosis — and what bipolar disorder actually is.
Read the post →What to Actually Pack for a Psychiatric Hospital Stay
Nobody hands you a packing list before a psychiatric admission. Here's what to bring, what they'll take at the door, and the small things that make the days easier.
The Mask I Wore in Middle School: Early Signs of Bipolar Disorder
Bipolar disorder is usually diagnosed around age 25, but it often starts speaking much earlier. An excerpt from Daybreak about the first signs, at thirteen, and the mask that hid them.
What a Psychotic Break Actually Feels Like From the Inside
Psychosis is described clinically far more often than it's described honestly. This is an excerpt from Daybreak about what a psychotic break actually felt like from inside it.
Read the first chapter free
Get the Author's Note, Preface, and opening chapter of Daybreak as a PDF — plus new essays when I publish them.
2.8%
of U.S. adults live with bipolar disorder, according toNAMI. Behind that number are millions of individual stories that rarely get told in full. This is one of them — told without a filter.
The arc of the book
The Beginning of the Mask I Wore
The first fracture, long before anyone had a name for it.
Hospital Walls
Psychosis, hospitalization, and the long way back to herself.
More Than My Diagnosis
Stability, and a life reclaimed on her own terms.
Finding Light After a Bipolar Storm
In Daybreak, Brittany Peckham delivers an astonishingly honest, often heartbreaking memoir of her lifelong battle with bipolar disorder — from her first emotional outbursts in middle school to full-blown psychosis in adulthood. Told with brutal clarity and unflinching vulnerability, it's a must-read for anyone living with mental illness — or loving someone who is.
- Bipolar Disorder
- Hospitalization & Recovery
- Rebuilding Identity
- Family & Forgiveness
"For most of my life, I felt like I was screaming into silence."
— from the Author's Note, Daybreak
Brittany Peckham
Brittany grew up between Massachusetts and Connecticut, where she now lives on the shoreline. Daybreak is her first book — a memoir chronicling her lifelong journey with bipolar disorder, a hospitalization and psychotic break in adulthood, and the long, unglamorous climb back to stability. She wrote it for anyone who has ever felt like they were screaming into silence.
If this resonates, you're not alone
Daybreak is one person's story, not a treatment plan. If any of it hits close to home — for you or someone you love — these organizations are staffed by people who do this work every day.
Where to start
A plain-language guide to finding help for bipolar disorder — support groups, crisis lines, and what to do when you don't know what to do.
Read the guide →For family & friends
What actually helps when someone you love has bipolar disorder — and what to say when you have no idea what to say.
Read the guide →More books like this
An honest, curated list of the best memoirs about bipolar disorder — including the ones that helped Brittany feel less alone.
See the list →