Lou Henderson, a party store clerk, wakes to find herself bound to a bed by hard leather cuffs. She is convinced that she's been abducted and being hold captive somewhere when a nurse informs her she's actually on suicide watch in the hospital psych ward. Lou has no recollection of a suicide attempt. She was just at a party with friends, for God's sake!

Despite her vigorous protests, Lou has no choice but to stay on the ward for the allotted 72 hours. Lost and alone, Lou befriends an experienced psych ward traveler named Mel. The two girls get along famously and ultimately become roommates. Mel helps Lou navigate daily life on the ward — meds, doctors, and therapy.

While Lou battles a depression deep enough to keep her mired in the psychiatric system for years, Mel conceals a shocking secret vital to Lou's very sanity.

Wendy Foard grew up on a small college campus where her father taught history. Because of Ferrum's rural location, she spent over a decade as an undiagnosed manic-depressive striving for a life in the arts.

After being diagnosed with bipolar disorder in the 1990's, she's had four psychiatric hospitalizations for medication issues, which serve as the inspiration for her debut novel Involuntary Hold. Wendy is enjoying retirement in Harper's Ferry, West Virginia where she currently hosts the podcast Bipolar for Life.