By Tine Roycroft

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, an estimated one in four adults suffers from a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year. And yet, those of us who have received the diagnosis still don’t feel the relief that comes with “knowing.” We avoid. We hide. We come up with a hundred new reasons as to why we couldn’t come to the party or put in another day at work.There are people who are fighting each day to help others understand mental health issues and break down the long-standing stigmas against those who have them. However, it’s still difficult to admit : I have social anxiety. I have obsessive-compulsive disorder. I have a panic disorder. I am bipolar.

Thankfully, author David Fredette has chosen to walk into the spotlight so that others may learn, accept and eventually embrace. After being diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 1998, he embarked on his first book, Latent Heat , a personal poetic novel based on his emotional journey through his first year after being hospitalized.

“This book is a reflection of how I cope with mental illness, as well as the rest of life’s challenges,” Fredette said.

Latent Heat follows Fredette throughout the course of a year and examines the usual ups and downs of life that we experience each day ~  thinking about going on a diet, wondering what it would be like to have a spouse or a life partner, finally getting a job after weeks or months of searching.

But once readers step back and realize that, in addition to the ebbs and flows of life, Fredette is dealing with a mental illness, they will undoubtedly gain a deep appreciation for what Fredette and so many others struggle with on a daily basis.

For example, in his poem “Relief,” Fredette discusses how, once he secures a job, the future becomes brighter in some aspects. “The dust has settled,” he writes. “Monarchs in the air/ It is now fall./ At the sea, I cast a ‘thousand yard’ stare./ After years of career searching, I finally gain a ‘foothold.’/ Interview after interview./ My future has now been sold.”

Fredette goes on to reflect upon the positive sides of the job: financial stability, the chance to save money, the ability to move up in his company. But there’s a certain gray echo to his work here that makes the reader wonder if he’s truly happy. Clearly, financial security is important, but with the words “My future is sold,” Fredette’s poetry shows deeper levels ~ and possible doubt ~ in the choice he inevitably had to choose.

In the book’s final poem, “A Year’s Up,” the reader realizes just how much work Fredette has put into this collection. It was truly an exhaustive effort, but once he makes his goal, he embraces a time where his mind can just relax and refresh.

“Week after week/ Writer’s block after writer’s block. The reservoir of thought/ can now collect/ in the coffers of my cranium/ As I rest with contentment.”

For more information, or to order Latent Heat, go to latentheat.net.