The Bipolar Disorder Survival Guide: What You and Your Family Need to Know

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Summary: Get great advice to understand and manage bipolar disorder
Review: I enjoyed getting the knowledge provided in this book. I read it in a short amount of time, devouring every word. I have done some internet research and learned from doctors about my disorder. However, this book gave me a more complete understanding of the disorder, how to manage it, and how to help others understand the highs and lows of this disorder. There are lots of examples of work and family situations and how to deal with them.

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Summary: Highly practical advice
Review: I found this book filled with excellent, practical advice for dealing with the daily struggle of living with bipolar disorder. It's an interactive book in which the patient is asked to actively participate in his own treatment program. I think it's indispensible for anyone suffering from bipolar disorder, and probably should also be read by family and friends of the afflicted. Avery Z. Conner, author of "Fevers of the Mind".

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Summary: A MUST HAVE BOOK!
Review: I found this book to be extremely helpful in dealing with and accepting my 39 year old son's ten year battle with bipolar illness. I have entered an order to buy three additional copies for family members-who sometimes are in denial that it is a real medical illness & think of it as only an excuse for not taking responsibility. I have read several books on bipolar disorder but find that this book gives one a real sense of empowerment. David Miklowitz has written a book that is clear and concise and ends much of the confusion as to dealing with the illness.

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Summary: Best Book on Bipolar Illness
Review: I'm very disappointed to not see Dr. Fieve's book entitled "MoodSwing" on the list of books for this illness. It is truly one of the best out there.

Rating:
Summary: Best Book on Bipolar Illness
Review: I'm very disappointed to not see Dr. Fieve's book entitled "MoodSwing" on the list of books for this illness. It is truly one of the best out there.

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Summary: Wonderful Guide with Great Tips
Review: Milkowitz really gives great insight to those with bi-polar. He has allowed me to see myself more clearly and how to manage my disorder more affectively. This book also offered hope for my husband, our marriage, and our children. We know that we are not alone in our feelings, nor in our responses to our feelings.

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Summary: It's a gift
Review: My sister checked this book out from the library on her own, to glean a greater understanding of my on-going battle with manic-depression. She had always been supportive, but it gave her greater insight. It dispels a lot of fear that is born in ignorance about mental illness. I bought a copy and haven't had a chance to read it through yet because I needed to loan it out to a friend whose daughter is struggling with her own diagnosis of Bi-Polar Disorder. Education is the key to safety and recovery. Families need to share this book together and talk about it, how it honestly applies to their shared experience. It's about healing. It's about hope. I wholeheartedly reccomend it.

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Summary: Bipolar Disorder Survival Guide
Review: Out of desparation, I ordered this book to help my husband and I understand a family member's disorder. I just received the book and have already learned a lot about the disorder. I am about half way through the book. The book is well written, easy to understand and very insightful. This book has already given me a much better understanding of the medical problem in treating individuals that are bipolar. I have a much better understanding of the medications that are used to treat bipolar disorder, some of the reasons why affected individuals do not take their medications and how they blame their manic and depressive episodes on their medications. I now understand the importance of the role of psychiatry, therapy, documenting an individual's behavioral patterns, moods and feelings in conjunction with the medications in order to treat the disorder. The book does an excellant job describing the bipolar individual's perceptions of the illness, family members perceptions and medical professionals perceptions. I can see how there are conflicts based on perceptions and lack of education. I recommend this book to anyone that has a family member with bipolar disorder. I can't wait to finish the book. This book has helped me understand the dynamics behind this very complicated disorder.

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Summary: A must buy!
Review: Simply put, this book has changed my life. After years of being in denial about my illness, or perhaps more correctly-in confusion about my illness, I picked this book up this summer and could not put it down. David Miklowitz warms up to the reader like a small town country doctor, who comes into your living room, holds your hand, looks right into your eyes-and tells you exactly what's wrong with you. He doesn't frighten you with jargon or condescending academic mumbo-jumbo or scientific psychobabble. His tone is friendly, calming, and his concepts accessible, even when he explains the biochemical basis for bipolar disorder. I particularly like how he peppers every chapter with small capsules of what other bipolars have gone through in their own words. The book is a must for every bipolar's library-newly diagnosed, veterans, those still in denial. Relatives, loved ones, friends, and professionals working in the field with bipolar disorder patients will find it an excellent resource as well.

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Summary: for ever-doubtful bipolars and their aggravated families
Review: This book is excellent for people who *are* bipolar or have family members that are. Unlike so many books on the disorder, this one doesn't 1. solely spit up another DSM-IV hairball to describe the complexities of the actual *bipolar experience*, or 2. present a narrow viewpoint of how symptoms may manifest themselves. It made me chuckle as I read it, because it addresses the sometimes downright *silly* defiance a person can feel towards their diagnosis, and hopefully explains some of what's really going on inside a bipolar person's head to family members or people they might live with. The section on meds is still pretty updated, which is cool, and I like the fact that they mention some of the slightly less conventional means of dealing with cycling and depression--like thyroid supplementation--that some other books leave out. It also adequately discusses (I think, anyway) Bipolar II and the soft-spectrum versions of the disorder.

This book isn't the one to read if you're strictly reading it for research purposes--you'll find more scientifically-orientated articles on medscape--but I think I'd recommend it as the first book to run out and get if you're diagnosed.