Always Swing

Aug 22

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Alex Dean Author Interview

In Open Water, you share the details of your difficult upbringing, your struggles with mental health, and the mysterious medical condition that ultimately changed your life. What inspired you to share your story with readers? 

The goal in writing this book was and is still to help others in any way possible. That could mean just being able to spread awareness of this condition in hopes of eventually finding a cure for people, or also hopefully preventing others from having to go down the dark road that I did in order to find an answer. I am also hopeful that this could reach people or their families with this specific disorder or any other similar diagnosis and make them feel less alone and let them know that there is always hope.

I appreciated the candid nature with which you told your story. What was the hardest thing for you to write about? 

I think that while it was honestly quite difficult and emotional to revisit some of those darker places and times, like my stay in Haliston Hospital, the hardest thing about writing all of this was honestly emotionally reconciling all of the difficult family aspects of this and coming to terms with the best way to tell the story 100% truthfully while telling of some of the more difficult moments with family and people that I will always love dearly!

How important was it for you to convey a sense of hope to your readers? 

That sense of hope is absolutely critical. Getting through my own struggle or any even remotely similar, requires understanding that there is always hope and you can always persevere no matter what.  I can’t think of a more important message to get across and I very much aim for that sense of hope to be something that readers definitely take with them. 

What is one thing you hope readers take away from your experiences?

As all of these answers hopefully suggest, raising awareness for this disorder, as well as being able to help others in anyway possible are certainly the main goals. As far as a take away that I would love to be able to relay? Always persevere, always try to press on no matter what, and using the metaphor in the book, always swing, knowing that there is always hope.

Author Links: GoodReads | Facebook | Amazon

This memoir tells of Alex’s medical journey, an insanely bumpy ride that goes to unimaginable extremes. In searching for a diagnosis, incorrect results of genetic testing and many other issues resulted in absolute confusion for him and his family. That confusion led to wild searches for answers throughout his teenage years and well beyond, which included multiple months-long stays in various inpatient psychiatric facilities, treatment centers, and other medical attempts at successful intervention. When all else seemed to fail, they even turned to extreme spiritual interventions, such as time spent at faith-healing churches, one-on-one sessions with radically religious counselors, and multiple exorcisms.

Open Water details that journey and communicates many of the lessons that he learned from it and hopes others can benefit from as well. The goal is to ensure that those who might be dealing with similar conditions never have to feel as darkly alone as he did at times, going through his own many-years-long search for a diagnosis and learning to live with a disability. Alex stresses that if reading this can help just one person going through anything even remotely similar to what he went through to feel less alone or desperate or afraid, it will all be worth it to him. He hopes that any such individual’s family or close friends are able to process and understand better what is happening as they move forward as well.

The title, Open Water, is a visual comparison carried throughout the story. Like open water, life can be absolutely beautiful and sometimes terrifyingly stormy as well, with moments when the only choice is just trying to swim and stay above the surface. Times of relative serenity still bring with them the fear of the unknown, not knowing what lies below the murkiness around us. The only thing to do is keep pressing on in hopes of eventually finding clarity.

Posted on August 22, 2025, in Interviews and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink. Leave a comment.

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