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 Born August 7th, 1976 in Ottumwa, IA, Karla was 10 minutes younger than her twin brother Kevin. They were the only children of Tom and Fran Smith. At age 2, the Smith family moved to the Tulsa, Oklahoma area where they lived for the next 22 years as a typical middle class, close-knit family.
Karla was never the quiet type as a child. She had a zest for life which was apparent through many activities, debates, creations, and friendships. She graduated high school in 1994 as an honor student who had been the lead in the school play as well as an elected student council officer. Her future was bright, promising, and exciting.
But then, at age 19, in the second semester of her sophomore year in college, Karla fell into her first major depression. Two years later, she was finally diagnosed with bipolar disorder and the whole family struggled to learn about the illness and cope with it. After seven years of up and down emotions, periods of stability, and periods of instability, Karla ended her physical life on earth when she took her life on January 13, 2003 at the age of 26.
One of Karla’s main passions in life was writing. At the time of her suicide, she was nearly complete with her memoir, which she titled Glue. The glue was a reference to the bipolar medication which held her together during periods of mania and depression. Her mission through her memoir was to educate others about what it felt like to live with a mental illness.
It is a result of Karla’s mission and in her memory that Tom, Fran, and Kevin created the Karla Smith Foundation two years after her death in 2005 to help other people who share similar experiences. It is through her openness about her mental illness and the Smith’s openness about sharing her story that KSF connects with so many others facing the challenges of mental illness. Karla’s spirit remains the soul of KSF.
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"I found that this was the most honest look at bipolar disease that I have read. It is very comprehensive in the way it speaks to how mental illness encompasses the entire family, as well as friends. Every voice spoke with a desire to understand the unravelling that was caused by this disease." J. Herman |
Overview:
Vibrant, intelligent, and active, nineteen-year-old college student Karla Smith embraces the future with unbridled enthusiasm. But when she suddenly loses interest in everything she always loved, her family is understandably alarmed. Where is the bubbly, optimistic Karla they all know and love? Weeks go by and Karla hides under her bedcovers, refuses to engage in any of her passions, and returns only a wall of silence to her family's pleading questions. Eventually diagnosed as bipolar, Karla experiences the illness's major symptoms of recurring depression and periodic mania. Her parents, Fran and Tom, and her twin brother, Kevin, endure her tragic lows and euphoric highs for seven long years before Karla loses the battle with her illness, committing suicide at the tender age of twenty-six. The Smith family weaves threads of pain, confusion, grief, and hope into a moving portrait of the challenge and tragedy of bipolar disorder. But it's Karla's own story-her brave fight against the debilitating disorder and her enduring struggle for balance, acceptance, and peace-that lies at the heart of this book, offering hope and strength for everyone who suffers from bipolar disorder and their loved ones. |
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