Episodes

The True Story of Two Friends & One Diagnosis

By: Mara Altman, Kat Alexander

Narrated by: Mara Altman, Kat Alexander

In Episodes, lifelong best friends Kat and Mara take listeners on an unfiltered journey through friendship, mental illness, and survival. Kat, a successful professional, is preparing for marriage and motherhood. On her fourth round of IVF, it happened—a frantic call to Mara. Mara comes over to find Kat, her friend of 25 years—the one who'd always been levelheaded, hilarious, and over-the-top thoughtful—trying to jump through a window.

The unexpected Bipolar diagnosis sends Kat’s life into a tailspin, leading to frantic 9-1-1 calls, cycling in and out of hospitals, crashed cars, emptied bank accounts, and, eventually, a desperate search and rescue mission in Mexico, where Kat goes missing.

Told through their own voices, Episodes captures the profound intimacy and tension of a friendship tested by crisis. Using real-time audio to immerse listeners in their heart-wrenching saga, Episodes takes us deep into the taboo of losing one's mind and raises universal questions about the boundaries of friendship. In spite of the chaos, Kat and Mara are here to tell their story, together—a testament that not only is healing possible, but that it’s not meant to be done alone.

©2024 Mara Altman and Kat Alexander (P)2024 Audible Originals, LLC.

Excellent

I bought this just by chance and was pleasantly surprised to find out that it is a great listen. The story is extremely interesting and the narrators are perfect. I recommend this book especially if you have someone in your family that suffers from mental illness or if you do. It’s eye opening!

A beautiful story of friendship

Beautiful, honest and raw. A friendship like this is not common place. Really I’m at a loss for words at the vulnerability these two women share in this book.

Vulnerable and riveting

So in awe of these two for their vulnerability. An incredible deep dive into trauma and mental health.

Friendship

If only more people understood what families and friends go through knowing someone with mental health issues.

How real this was!

I'm the friend of Kat! Only it's my adult daughters. Thank you so much for writing your story. Your friendship is incredible, very real.

Very good

Very moving. Worth the listen. It’s a story that should be told to advance awareness of mental health and trauma.
With that said, I think there should be less shame on the friends that pulled back. These friends may have triggers of their own.

Must read

This was quite a journey to take with the author. The writing style was unique and engaging. I felt like I was part of the story and able to visualize events as if I were witnessing them as they occurred. Hearing the manic episode recordings brought such a clear understanding of bipolar to the reader. This book changed the way I thought about mental illness and gave me much more compassion for what the true struggle is.

A must-read first-handed testament

This story was incredible. Not only was it the most raw, accurate, vulnerable description of an unfolding mental illness, it also taught so much on friendship, perseverance and the power of not being a bystander to people in distress.

Wow

These ladies did an amazing job of bringing to light the struggles of having a loved one with a bipolar diagnosis and the struggles everyone involved faces.

Great example for us all. To understand and treat, rather than judge those who have mental illness

This true story teaches us that mental illness can and does affect all kinds of people. We need to see ourselves in those who suffer and show compassion and care just like we do for any other illness. I really enjoyed this story.