What do audiences want/need to read more?

In mind mapping and outlining my book on bipolar disorder, I keep asking myself which aspect of the content should be fleshed out more: my personal story or the biological basis of the disorder.

Option 1 might be more cathartic to write. (Was going to say “fun” but revisiting trauma is not that.) Maybe I could include a list of references to more in-depth reading on the biology of bipolar for those who want to dive deeper.

Option 2 would be more in the style of Anticancer: A New Way of Life if any of you have read that. I would enjoy consolidating some biomedical info into one place for a clearer understanding of its causes/origins. I would include segments about my experiences, symptoms, and thoughts but that wouldn’t be the main focus of the book. Maybe there is more of a demand for this type of book?

As much as I’d like to get all the twists and turns of my journey out there for people to read, I ultimately am doing this more for my target audience than for myself, which is why I would like your perspectives about which type of book would be more valuable to them. My target audience is the young adult who has just been diagnosed/had their first episode and now feels in a state of shock/overwhelm/fear and needs some answers and encouragement that their life isn’t over.

Options 1 and 2 would also include tips/strategies for living better with the disorder.

TLDR: the poll options are pretty self-explanatory!

My memoir of living with bipolar 1 with bits of biology sprinkled in

A book on the biological basis of bipolar disorder with bits of my story interspersed

Including both is trying to do too much in one book. Just choose one or the other.

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