For Kyle Bishop, making wrong choices was just a way of life. But as a young girl, she had no idea these bad decisions were a direct result of living with bipolar disorder. The life she recounts in Bipolar Barbie is one marked by poor judgment-until a proper diagnosis and medication changed Benson's life. Benson tells of a life filled with chaos. Born of a sixteen-year-old mother into a dysfunctional family, Bishop must cope with her own marriage at age sixteen and divorce just weeks later; six subsequent marriages; a destructive lifestyle of two- or three-day parties; her confinement in a mental institution-and her eventual diagnosis of bipolar disorder. Bipolar Barbie provides an intimate understanding of the disorder's effects, distills the stigma attached to bipolar disorder, and shows that with proper medical treatment, there can be hope for those who are afflicted with this disease.