“Brilliantly written, engaging from the first page... like a great evening at a first-rate comedy club… except that it is deadly serious.”
—Ellen Frank, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburg School of Medicine
About Willa
Willa Goodfellow’s early work with troubled teens as an Episcopal priest shaped an edgy perspective and preaching style. A bachelor’s degree from Reed College and a master’s from Yale gave her the intellectual chops to read and comprehend scientific research about mental illness—and her life mileage taught her to recognize and call out the bull. Prozac Monologues is her first book, the result of turning her misbegotten sojourn in the land of antidepressants into a writing and speaking career. That career now takes another turn as she moves to the Dingle peninsula, County Kerry, Ireland. Stay tuned!
About Prozac Monologues
She was going to stab her doctor, but she wrote Prozac Monologues instead.
Years later, Willa Goodfellow revisits this account of an antidepressant-induced hypomania that hijacked a Costa Rican vacation. She tells the rest of the story: the wrong medication, an overlooked diagnosis of Bipolar 2, and finally a path to recovery.
Praise
“Willa’s story is a wake-up call to the medical profession and a ray of hope for people with mood disorders.”
—Chris Aiken, MD, Editor in Chief, The Carlat Psychiatry Report, Mood Disorders Editor, Psychiatric Times, Director, Mood Treatment Center
“Ms. Goodfellow’s book is, at once, a vividly written personal narrative and a kind of travel guide to the often confusing territory of mood disorders.”
—Ronald W. Pies, MD, Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Author, Psychiatry on the Edge
“Willa Goodfellow can use the words mitochondria and Deuteronomy in the same sentence and make it sound both serious and hilarious.”
—John McManamy, Author, Living Well with Depression and Bipolar Disorder
Forthcoming Book Project
A gritty little tourist town on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica is the setting for daily gatherings of expats who came looking for paradise, or at least cheap beer. Meet Mama—the blind 72 year old co-owner of the Pato Loco (Crazy Duck) along with her daughter and partner Mary—the bartender and installation artist, Richie—an aging hippie who speaks seldom but you always want to hear it, and more. Humor, adventure, pathos, family—strangers who become a community by telling one story at a time.
- What are the rules of bar stories?
- Can an escaped convict claim his pension?
- Can you survive dengue?
- Do you want to survive dengue?
- How do you do CPR on a fish?
These questions and more will be answered in Willa Goodfellow’s next book, to be released Spring 2026.
Working title: A Gritty Little Tourist Town
Latest Substack Articles
What's Next
- Finding My VoiceThanks to Fannie Lou Hamer and Jessye Norman
- Chris Aiken Writes Me a Love Story: Coffee, Tea, and MeThe short version: Tea reduces the risk of depression
- Do Subtitles Really Matter?Why I Love Mine
