Bipolar Recommended Books -- Worth Reading

Thanks for the info. I am the mother of a newly diagnosed biploar daughter. I am struggling. It's hard to know how to help her.

i definitely agree and highly recommend this book as well. i really and honestly got a lot out of it. i could barely put it down, and in fact decided to re-read this just yesterday.

I would like to add Andrew Gadtke's "Regular & Decaf," a series of conversations between two young friends suffering from schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Very entertaining and generally informative. Purchase at Risenman publishing, contact Dave Gadtke. Thanks!

There is a new book by Kay Redfield Jamison called "Nothing was the Same" in which she tells about her husband, their lives together and his death. It deals primarily with grief. I have just started reading it and like it.

Hello everyone. Thanks for the reading list. I personally liked Electroboy and Night Falls Fast. I also liked and recommend The Center Cannot Hold, even though it's (mostly) about coping with schizophrenia, because Elyn Saks and I both experienced what is called 'thought broadcasting delusions'.

I also wrote an autobiography that was published this past November. It's about my seventeen year struggle to cope with mental illness. In the 1980s, I was a bipolar child being raised by abusive parents who themselves had undiagnosed mental illnesses. I was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, which as many of you know, is a kind of combination of manic depression and schizophrenia. In my case I had the symptoms of bipolar disorder 1 comorbid with schizophrenic tendencies, in addition to PTSD that was caused by years of exposure to a toxic family environment.

Now it's been over fifteen years since I've tried to take my own life. In my book I discuss how I got to a place of balance and acceptance when most of my past was marked by strife and hopelessness. The book also documents my experiences as a ward of the State in the juvenile mental health system, living as a teen in psychiatric residential facilities, group homes for emotionally disturbed adolescents and foster homes. All placements where I met other teens and children like myself. Fair warning: the book does have some triggering events in it. But it also has some of my own personal strategies for dealing with triggers. .

It's called "Possessing Me: A Memoir of Healing" and it was written by me, Jane Alexander. It is available on Amazon. Have a great holiday everyone!

Today, I read that this was a good read and highly recommended:

"Living with Someone who is Living with Bipolar Disorder" by Chelsea Lowe, 2010.

You can even read the first chapter free on Amazon, not that there are not many other places to buy it. I plan on checking it out tonight. I got this info from another post on a different thread. So thank you to that person! This is not a novel, but non-fiction.

Best,
radiantchild

The Bipolar Handbook, by Wes Burgess.

this was the first book I read after my diagnosis. Very good!

Has anyone read Bi Polar for Dummies or Bi Polar expedition? I have heard of both of these but not sure if they are any good!!

I like this one:

Take Charge of Bipolar Disorder: A 4-Step Plan for You and Your Loved Ones to Manage the Illness and Create Lasting Stability by Julie Fast and John Preston.

I think thie link is worth looking at
European consensus statement on diagnosis and treatment of adult ADHD: The European Network. Adult ADHD. Sandra JJ Kooij1*, Susanne Bejerot2, ...
http://www.biomedcentral.com/content...244x-10-67.pdf

Lots og good points. I hope a lot of professionals will read it.

my favorite book is called "manic" by terri Cheney, i read and reread that book it was so good
Beth

Daneille Steele wrote a fantastic book on her sons battle with bipolar, called "his bright light", I highly recommend this book
Beth

Thanks for the warning, Lost. I'd been thinking of buying it.

I recently read a book on bipolar called "Welcome to the Jungle" by Hilary Smith... it was funny, irreverent, and taught me a lot of stuff I didn't understand about bipolar disorder. Having been recently diagnosed, it was comforting to find a book that didn't treat the diagnosis like a death sentence - it made it ten times less scary, while at the same time providing relevant information. I'd recommend it for any young adult struggling to come to terms with their diagnosis- it'll actually make you laugh!

It is a good book to read.

My first novel, THE TEMPTRESS ARIEL, is a romance between a naive
schizophrenic man and a free-spirited bipolar woman. I recommend it for all people with bipolar disorder. -Greg Bauder

Madness: A bipolar life by Marya Hornbacher Very readable and interesting

This memoir launches you right into the guts of it.
Cutting, paranoia, alienation from friends, depersonalisation, hallucinations, racing confused thoughts, parental conflict, raging father, owning the identity of "crazy", immobilising depression and delusions, and so it goes.

If you already have a framework of Bipolar in your head, it is very interesting to see this played out in Marya's story. She avoids using clinical terminology for the most part and just gets on with the job of describing what she experienced.

There are tons of studies on meditation being used as therapy. Supposedly can have extremely positive effects, but I can't ever focus well enough.

i know this sounds ever so cheeky but does anyone know the ISBN numbers of any of these mentioned books??

I really love the book Loving someone with bipolar disorder by Julie A Fast, John D Preston, PYS.D . It really helped me come to accept my diagnose. My relationship with my husband and I has gotten back to like when we first meet in high school and now can be civil with one another without BPD taking charge or our conversations and lives. HIGH recommened it to all.

Another member here recommended the book "Less Than Crazy" by Karla Dougherty ISBN 978-1-60094-047-7. It's a great book about BP II with lots of facts, and some personal stories. I downloaded the e-book from my library and read it, and then ordered it from amazon.ca

BTW, why do you need the ISBN ?

Thanks I would really like to check these out.

"loving someone with bipolar disorder" by Julie A. Fast and John D. Preston changed my life and my marriage. It is written to the spouse or partner of someone with bipolar. My husband finally understood about my illness when he read it.

For me, it gave me a glimpse of how I looked to others. Sort of stepped outside myself. But the book has lots of solid advice for stability and I follow it all, after 6 years. I am basically med free, except for sleeping pills because of the recommendations of the book.

I also loved "An unquiet Mind" but more from an experiential point of view than helping me control the bipolar.