“Jaime Lowe started taking lithium when she was 17, after a manic episode landed her in a psychiatric ward. She was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and for more than 20 years, the drug has been her near-constant companion. She’s taken it for so long that she can’t say for sure where she ends and lithium begins.”
Two of my favorite programs from NPR include RadioLab and Only Human. I first heard this episode, Your Sanity or Your Kidneys, years ago and it has stuck with me every since. It disturbed and frightened me that simple salt imbalance in our bodies could radically change our reality, sanity, and personality.