It wasn't meant to be like this. I won student of the year at college and then was nominated for national awards in the first year of my apprenticeship. I had come from inauspicious beginnings, but I was motivated and hard working. I had every intention of going places. And I did. It seems like every other week, another celebrity is diagnosed with bipolar disorder by the tabloid media. The public are led to believe that the latest superstars' fall from grace is more deep-seated than over indulgence in drink or drugs; or is this sometimes just canny image management to remove any responsibility for bad behaviour? Mark Lucas takes us on a real journey of a bipolar life, as experienced by an everyman, complete with the humour and wit to balance the heartache and crises of this rollercoaster ride. Having been effectively labelled second rate at the end of his teens, Mark has had to fight for everything he has achieved and gritted his teeth through illness, ridicule and unfair treatment at work, and ostracism due to occasional incidences of illness and asks why, in a world obsessed with celebrating the self and individual rights, do the sufferers of mental health problems often have to live a lie whilst hiding in plain sight?