LISTENER’S CHOICE: Adventures in the Army with the Bipolar General

During a decades long career in the United States Army, Gregg
Martin just kept on succeeding. Star cadet at West Point, getting
promoted up to two-start General, earning PhD degrees along the
way, and receiving glowing evaluations all the while for his
boundless energy and enthusiasm. He now knows that he was
operating under a condition called hyperthymia, being in a
constant state of near mania. After a deployment to Iraq, Gregg’s
mania kicked into high gear and was accompanied by bouts of deep
depression. It would take many years of further promotion and
misdiagnosis before Gregg’s behavior became so erratic that his
life fell apart and his bipolar disorder was finally identified.
Then he had to figure out how to get better. He tells his story
in this interview and in his book Bipolar General: My Forever War
with Mental Illness.


We get a preview of the episode at the top from listener Ken
Fredette, who says the episode has stayed with him since it
originally aired.


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