Bitter Medicine by Clem Martini and Olivier Martini; A plot summary

Bitter Medicine is a graphic memoir written by Clem Martini, and it recalls events from his childhood all the way through to his later years, focusing on schizophrenia; a mental illness that has plagued two of his brothers. We, as the reader, are introduced to Clem’s family, consisting of his mother and father, and his three brothers: Nic, Oliver, and Ben. In part one of the memoir, Ben is afflicted by schizophrenia which ultimately leads to him committing suicide at a tender young age. Clem was in Paris at the time and felt that his absence from home meant he was helpless in preventing such a situation.

From part two all the way to the end of five, Clem’s brother, Olivier develops schizophrenia much like his late younger brother Ben. It have been some number of years since Ben has passed away, and Clem helps and encourages Olivier, or Liv for short, to seek medical treatment. A person with a mental illness has a hard time integrating into society, and this is evident in this part of the memoir. Liv is struggling to find a job after losing his old one at the print shop. Eventually gets a job as a night watchman. This eventually does not work out for him as his work only contributed to his illness. “His paranoia grew. His mental situation deteriorated and delusions began to consume him.” (Clem 115). Liv’s father was the one who understood him the most. The two would take long walks together, but this all came to an end when Liv’s father passed away and he was the one to discover the body. This traumatizing and tragic event caused Liv to relapse. “Liv experienced another psychotic episode and a breakdown. The first relapse is disheartening, the second an epiphany. You realize how unlike other medical conditions schizophrenia is.” (Clem 127). In between parts five to six, there is an interlude titled ‘The Circles of Hell.’ In this segment, Clem describes the stages of mental illness, and the buildup of it. It consists of five circles in total and goes from being diagnosed all the way to fear and uncertainty.

In part six of the memoir, Clem makes a statement on the medical system, and how people with mental illnesses were treated as second class. He talks about how mental patients are swept aside and isolated in small, run down communities. In part seven, Clem goes to talk about Liv and his consumption of all sorts of medications. Olanzapine is one of the medications Liv was prescribed which ultimately led to his diabetic attack. In part eight, the final part, Liv changes medications and sadly they aren’t working for him. Clem continues to make a statement on the medical system by talking about how it took so long to get treatment for his brother Liv. Eventually a drug called Clozapine is introduced but there was a risk of death for taking it as it could attack the white blood cells. Liv, not having any other drugs work on him, applied as a candidate for the drug, but first he has to lose thirty pounds for medical reasons. With the support of his family, Liv was able to lose twenty five pounds in the span of six months and qualified for the medication. “In the end, the medication proved more successful than we could have imagined. Over time Liv’s energy picked up and his thinking grew clearer. He became more optimistic.” (Clem 241).