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An Apparently Normal Person Author Presentation and Book-signing

By Karen Bagnard
Posted: 05/01/2024

Villager Bonnie Armstrong spent most of her life not knowing she had Dissociative Identity Disorder due to childhood trauma. It wasn’t until neurological symptoms surfaced at about age 50 that her discovery journey began.

The neurological symptoms Bonnie experienced baffled the medical community. They could find no physical problem to explain her symptoms. She was finally advised to seek the help of a psychologist.

Bonnie’s successful life of traveling and living abroad, receiving an education that led her to being an interpreter, working for government officials in the state of Florida, as well as Washington D.C., certainly gave the impression of “an apparently normal person.”

With the help of an excellent psychologist in Pasadena, Bonnie embarked on a complex, difficult and ultimately successful journey to uncover and understand her disorder. This revelation, her advocacy for children and her desire to destigmatize mental health issues is what inspired her to write this book.

An Apparently Normal Person was a book 10 years in the making. Bonnie does not hold back from the story of her trauma, her journey to mental health and her desire to help others understand this disorder. She has learned that it is far more common than most people are aware.  Studies show that as many people live with a dissociative disorder as live with bi-polar disorder or schizophrenia.

In the acknowledgments section of her book, Bonnie writes:

“I first used the African saying ‘It takes a village to raise a child’ in my 1992 book Making Government Work for Your City’s Kids, which I wrote for the National League of Cities. Now I have to acknowledge it also takes a village to write a book. Well, actually, it has taken a very large community to get this one written. And it started with the Pasadena Village and its memoir group, which has met for more than a decade now. They have encouraged me week by week, month by month to keep writing. Their loving curiosity and acceptance helped me own my truth and find my voice. Thank you, Linda and Tom, Mike and Carole, Kitty, Jo, Lois, and later arrivals, Judith, Sally A., Sally W. and Janet. Linda and Mike were the very first people to read the whole story and ask questions that helped the writing to improve and deepen. And Patrick Dunavan, thank you for helping me ‘come out’ for the first time as a multiple to a larger Pasadena Village audience. After reading that first draft, your kind clarity and copious notes pushed me forward in ways only you could have done.”

Bonnie will present at Connect 2 Rise, 2594 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena on May 21, at 10:00 a.m.  She will discuss her story, her book, and the healing journey of a lifetime that brought this book about. She is engaging, enlightening, very optimistic, and she will be signing her book. There will be a limited supply of books available for purchase. Or you can bring your own copy to be signed. An Apparently Normal Person is available at Vroman’s and other booksellers.

We encourage you to join us for a most interesting presentation and discussion, with Q&A. Registration is required. Call 626-765-6037 or register here.