Ballasted Wings: A Cautionary Bipolar Tale is a warning of what may happen when medications are not stabilized, life style changes are not accepted and self-care is not prioritized. This penetrating narrative takes us on co-existing mother daughter journeys. It is sure to pierce your heart. Alexis soared. She achieved, achieved, achieved then crashed on broken wings. Alexis was diagnosed just weeks before her 2006 college graduation: Bipolar I with rapid cycling. Alexis's diagnosis was before the dawning of social media. She and her mother had very little information, few resources and scarce support. Alexis seeks ballast but finds it not. Rather, she is confined, not once, but three times to inpatient psychiatric care. On medical leave from college, Alexis is disconnected from peers and mentors. In a medicated haze, her thinking clouded, she veers dangerously off track. Her situation, perilous. Thrust into Alexis's world, you feel her pain, disconnection, desire.