Sanity: It's Optional in Today's Culture by Domenic Zarrella
“Everyone is a genius, but if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing it is stupid.”
— Albert Einstein
It’s trying to jam that square peg into a round hole that adversely affects finding one’s purpose in life and leads to pressure, depression and anger that could manifest itself in some form of mental illness.
Diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 1995, Domenic Zarrella knows the tricks the mind can play, and how those tricks can wreak havoc on one’s inner self. And now he has shared his insights into the mysteries of mental illness in his gripping memoir, Sanity: It’s Optional in Today’s Culture.
“Have you ever wondered what was going on inside the mind of a loved one with mental illness when they did all those crazy things?” Zarrella writes. This book attempts to answer that question and help readers better understand the workings and struggles of people with bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, depression, anxiety, psychosis and other diagnoses.
For example, who could imagine that Zarrella’s psychotic mind jumps from watching news reports on TV to blaming himself for causing the Afghanistan War by not praying enough. That’s a lot to put on one’s fragile shoulders – and the gap between reality and letting your mind run wild.
The author notes that sanity is only “optional” in today’s fast-paced, multitasking culture in which demands are so great that the thought of going entirely off the grid and, say, not taking your work laptop on vacation is almost comical — although not really.
One Man’s Journey as a Guide for Others
Zarrella takes readers through his world: a successful career as a tech engineer until it goes sour; a happy family man until cracks appear in his marriage; bouts with severe mood swings and pressures leading to meltdowns and nervous breakdown; trips in and out of hospitals, psych wards and various living quarters; his on-again/off-again use of medications to soften his temperament and control his rage, until he chooses to withhold them; and a spiritual connection and faith-based initiatives that provide comfort, a sense of safety and healing, and help him find the truth. In fact, Zarrella leaned heavily on his Christian faith to give him hope and get through the rough times.
The author is a clear and confident narrator of his story, in a voice that implies a strong understanding of who he is, where his strengths lie and what his liabilities are. He writes in a way to instill hope in readers who either face similar challenges or know someone who does. While readers are taken through scenes and venues that many would prefer to avoid, Zarrella captures them as events in a life, or next steps in a process.
Readers will marvel at the way the author expresses himself. And in so doing, he charts a course that many couldn’t successfully navigate but that he has. With the strong support of his two daughters serving as his guiding lights, and his inner drive and persistence, he has lived a beautiful life. “I will let you into the mind of someone who has emerged from insanity intact,” he says. Sanity is optional — and that indeed is the option he chose.
Born in 1961 when mental illness wasn’t talked about and treatments were almost medieval, Domenic Zarrella had no idea that what afflicted him upon graduating from college was major depression. Diagnosed in 1995 with bipolar disorder with psychotic features, he had suffered the sadness, fatigue, and self-medication through alcohol for 12 years until being diagnosed after a manic/psychotic episode. After three hospitalizations and many psychotropic drug combinations, he lived a seemingly normal life until going off his medications in 2018. His insights into the mystery of mental illness can benefit anyone afflicted by this menace, or their loved ones. Visit www.sanitythebook.com.
