Dale is seven when her abusive father dies while on a secret mission for the US military. Left with her four siblings and neglectful mother in a remote corner of New Mexico, Dale inherits her father's complicated legacy of intelligence and instability. After graduating from college, she succeeds at a top-secret nuclear weapons lab while abusing drugs and engaging in promiscuous sex. Quick to anger, Dale changes from one career to another, juggling technical challenges and her wild lifestyle. After she marries, her husband develops life-threatening cancer, awakening the past trauma of her father's sudden death. Dale seeks the help of a psychiatrist, and is unprepared when she is diagnosed with bipolar disorder, leading her on a journey to understand her illness and manage her symptoms. Told with shocking honesty and in unbelievable detail, Bipolar, A Gift of Thorns is a profoundly insightful memoir that shines a light on one woman's courageous journey and the stigma of bipolar disorder.