Bipolar Recommended Books -- Worth Reading

ohmygosh yes marya hornbacher's madness is sensational. my therapist actually first lent it to me to read.

what i what to no is after geting treatment for bipolar with meds and self help things to do to help with your bipolar after all that how long do people keep there moods under control for years months days whatever bipolar you are bipolar 1 bipolar 2 what ever one i really dont mind i just would love to no your storys thats all thanks for your time

hobbsy

...one title...The Bell Jar. I was 16 when I first read it and I threw that amazing book away because it scared the living **** out of me--the girl in the story was me and I knew it. That was my first outside validation that yes, something was different about me. (naturally i bought another one)
amy

Read Coleridge's "Christabel" aloud to yourself...seriously. There's something manic and depressive and mind-atering, perception melting-ish about it that blows my mind

a book i find good is, the everything to know about bipolar disorder book. i find that it answered some questions that i had. and i use it often.

Dr. Francis Mondimore is my psychiatrist. He is an amazing man. I am so very lucky to have him as my psy-doc. His books are excellent!

Hobbsy09, it has taken quite a while to get mine under control, and I have had quite a few medication changes. It is worth persevering to do this.

Amyjo, I had the exact same experience with 'The Bell Jar'. It was extremely disturbing and 'suffocating' to me. I was not as perceptive as you, because I did not realize that it was too close to home.

To get back to the topic at hand, I bought "The Bipolar Handbook" by Wes Burgess and refer to it all the time. It is very readable and set out in a logical manner.

Why am I Still Depressed? by Phelps is a great book about the bipolar spectrum. It is especially good for those diagnosed with bipolar 2.

Kay Redfield Jamison is especially good. She really hits the mark.

Any biographies people have read and really enjoyed?

Living with Someone who's Living with Bipolar Disorder, 2010 by Chelsea Lowe

I just finished reading this book and it has now gone to the top of my list for books on bipolar. It is written for spouses and family members for those diagnosed, but like many diagnosed with BP, I was first a family member of a person diagnosed before I was diagnosed myself. My mom has been diagnosed BP I since I was young child and I was diagnosed BP II when I was 31 (I'm 34 now).

This book would be great for a person diagnosed, family member or significant other. My favorite chapters were Chapter 7 "Bipolar Disorders and the Workplace" and Chapter 8 "Communication and Coping Skills". What I also liked about it is it shared personal stories of couples and family members who have been affected by a person diagnosed with bipolar.

It was published in 2010, so it's information is up to date. If you are looking for a book for yourself, a family member or significant other I would highly recommend this book.

"Madness: a Bipolar Life" , 2008 by Marya HORNBACHER

I would also recommend the following:

• Bipolar In Order by Tom Wooten
• Depression Advantage by Tom Wooten
• Bipolar Advantage by Tom Wooten
• The Up and Down Life by Paul E. Jones
• Welcome to the Jungle: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Bipolar but Were Too Freaked Out to Ask by Hilary Smith

Awesome books and must reads!

I saw a report about her on the internet & was so touched I immediately bought this book & read it in 2 days. I couldn't believe how much of me I saw in her as well as the differences in our illnesses. I just had to email her and she wrote back that "we are sisters in this fight". And it is an everyday, life-long fight that can be so exhausting. That is why encouragement & support from others is so important. I will have to check out some of these other books.

I totally agree that reading about Buddhism has really helped me to gain perspective on my emotional problems. The thing I love about Buddhism the MOST is that it is not religion, it is more a way of seeing the world, it is a great way to get out of the passive "victim" trap. As far as "this being an inapporpriate place to post this" How so? Are those of us with bipolar NOT suffering? Could learning ways to change our perspective on it hurt us in some way? Learning about Buddhism helped me far more than anything I've ever learned in therapy, and the practice of ACT therapy is CENTERED on mindfulness. I think this post is completely appropriate for a thread on reading material that can provide useful insight into bipolar.

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!