Too Much

by Cindy Lee Neighbors

Category:

Biography

TOO MUCH chronicles life on the brink—the brutal reality of medical residency, the toll of family dysfunction, and the harrowing battle for sanity—from navigating professional gaslighting and personal betrayal to confronting the depths of mental illness and addiction in a quest for truth and freedom.

“An uncompromising probe into the medical industry fused with an honest account of mental illness.” —Kirkus Reviews

TOO MUCH opens with Cindy, a medical student in Hawaii, on the cusp of a dream career and a promising marriage. But the illusion shatters when her fiancé, Paul, faces a court-martial, exposing a hidden past and forcing Cindy to confront unsettling truths about trust, loyalty, and the pervasive culture of an unforgiving system. The revelation of his conviction, followed by the tragic loss of her father and her own escalating struggles as a resident, plunges Cindy into a spiral of self-doubt and paranoia.

This wasn’t the first time life had delivered a harsh blow. From a childhood marked by a “half-built house” and an unpredictable mother, to an earlier suicide attempt at fourteen, Cindy learned to compartmentalize. In TOO MUCH, she peels back the layers of a life lived striving for external validation, revealing the inner chaos of bullying, sham peer review, and systemic gaslighting. As a female, minority, and underrepresented physician, she grapples with the unique pressures of identity in a demanding profession. The weight of her journey—which includes therapy, art, and journaling as vital lifelines—forces her to confront deep-seated mental health challenges and battle addiction.

Told with unflinching honesty and a physician’s keen eye, TOO MUCH is Dr. Cindy Lee Neighbors’ gripping story of fighting for integrity in a system that often prioritizes optics over ethics. From the frantic pace of the operating room to the chilling reality of a psychiatric ward, Neighbors confronts her demons, unearths buried truths, and ultimately reclaims her voice.

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Cindy Lee Neighbors

Stories that Heal, Inspire, and Spark Imagination

Born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, Cindy Lee Neighbors has led an extraordinary journey from pageant stages and Hollywood sets to Army operating rooms and beyond. A former Miss Teen Asian International and graduate of the University of Southern California’s theater program, she appeared in commercials, music videos, and TV shows before pursuing a career in military medicine.

As a decorated Army physician, Cindy earned national recognition for her groundbreaking research on reducing opioid prescriptions. Now retired as a Captain, she channels her experiences into storytelling. Her memoir TOO MUCH offers an unflinching look at mental health challenges in military medicine, while her children’s book Benji and Briana Become Booger Doctors introduces young readers to the magic of health and healing.

Cindy is passionate about destigmatizing mental illness and inspiring others through her stories. When not writing, she enjoys traveling, hiking, and scuba diving.

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