Derailed on the Bipolar Express

Joie Edson is the mother of two sons who have been diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder, one at age 17 and the second son at age 19. She lives in Wakefield, Massachusetts, and earned both her undergraduate and master's degree in education from Salem State University. A retired Physical Education teacher, Joie currently teaches group exercise classes in the Greater Boston area. She has lived through inexplicable experiences, including a notable arrest of one of her sons at the Boston Marathon finish line, as a result of their illnesses. This is her story, but it also serves to shed light on the challenges other parents or families may face when raising children with mental illness.