I Cu Copper: How a Simple Biochemical Imbalance was Misdiagnosed as Mental Illness

Summary

Books will ship JULY 1, 2019

Although I Cu Copper is largely about a personal struggle with depression and its stigma, it is simultaneously about a 15-year excursion to find an elusive cause that could secretly be harming many women. With the help of her journal entries, Deb recounts each battle with a visceral urgency and effortlessly blends it with the discovery of the science behind it. I Cu Copper is more than one woman’s journey. It could hold the key to the cause of many women’s (and some men’s) depression, anxiety and fatigue.

Opening with the aftermath in the hospital of Deb’s attempted suicide, the reader will know that she does not intend to hold anything back. As painful as it is to remember, she bravely recounts her spiral into depression including the heart-wrenching decision that caused her to abort a baby she really wanted.

We are introduced to Deb before this depression descended: a woman nicknamed “Smiley” by her boss. The book follows her through a myriad of attempts to treat it including psychotherapy, antidepressants, and diet. As she pins hopes on each one, they all turn on her, sending her into a worsening feeling of failure. We watch as she begins to blame herself and takes on a deep shame. And yet, there is a small voice inside that leads her to keep searching for a cause.

Hope comes after many years of struggle that takes a toll on her marriage, motherhood, work, friends and family. Beyond the reach of standard medicine lies the answer: not a poison—an element that is harmless in most instances. Copper is good for us in many ways. For women it is necessary to have a baby as it supports blood vessels, it helps the nervous and immune response and is important to energy production. It can also be found outside the body in food, water, copper cookware and the environmental sources Deb ultimately discovers hurt her. Most people’s bodies take what they need and release the rest, but for others it can build up in the body causing anxiety, fatigue, depression, irritability, mind racing and more. When it builds up, it lowers zinc another essential trace mineral. Postpartum and menopausal depression ensue as estrogen raises copper causing copper toxicity. Being hormone related it is a factor for women starting puberty, birth control pills, a copper IUD, pregnancy and menopause.

After finding the cause, the solution is not that complicated. It doesn’t require any great leaps of faith or alternative thinking. She begins to regulate her copper—largely through nutrient therapy and diet. She shares these revelations and describes the slow reclaiming of her health: mental and physical.

Depending on who’s hands it is in, I Cu Copper is a riveting read, a story that sounds like someone they know, or a saving grace. For all, it is an inspirational account that shows that by tapping into personal power, there is the possibility of healing and redemption.