Can You Hear the Music?

When an Academic's Brain Becomes her Worst Enemy

Ann Jeffers has it all-a devoted partner, a child who adores her, and a successful career as a tenure-track professor in a top-ranked engineering program at the University of Michigan. But when she is diagnosed with bipolar disorder, she can't help but feel she is losing her most valuable asset: her mind. The bipolar disorder is complicated by the trauma she carries from the Virginia Tech shooting, resulting in a perfect nightmare each time she steps foot in the classroom.

Ann embarks on a journey in search of the right medications and therapy, holding on to the hope that something must be able to help her feel normal again. But despite her best efforts, she suffers debilitating depressions and dangerously high manias peppered with delusions and hallucinations. In a race against time, Ann strives to attain stability before her illness consumes her.

Can You Hear the Music? is a story of perseverance and love, and it highlights the healing that can take place when the stigma of mental illness is overcome.

Praise for Can You Hear the Music?

"This book will become a classic-a must-read for licensed mental health professionals, for family doctors, for parents who really care, for anyone who needs to know the truth about serious mental health injury. Professor Ann Jeffers has a condition known as Bipolar I. While most of us have heard the term Bipolar Disorder, many of us have not had the privilege of learning the impact of this condition from a survivor like Jeffers. She bravely explains her euphoric highs and her suicidal lows in a way that really lets you in, which at times can be hard for the reader. Few people with this condition have the nerve and the brilliance to tell their life story and to do it as clearly, accurately and, at times, enjoyably as this author has done. It takes guts to read this book, and it is well worth the emotional investment."

--Frank Ochberg, M.D., is a retired professor of psychiatry who previously served as the Mental Health Director of the State of Michigan and the Associate Director of the National Institute of Mental