Famous Bipolar People

Bipolar Books - Some of the Best Books on Bipolar Disorder

An Unquiet Mind

An Unquiet Mind

Kay Redfield Jamison

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!! This book is authored by a person who has both the clinical knowledge of the disorder and personal experience of its symptoms. He understands how devastating the long-term effects of the disorder can be, and provides a livid insight into this incurable, but manageable disease. Readers can relate to the easy flowing prose and feel good with the added knowledge on why they behave the way they do. With a little fine-tuning of the medication and behavior, equilibrium can be achieved so the disease is overall managed. This real-life account is reassuring, giving the reader a feeling that he is not the only one going through the symptoms and a reassurance that he can gain control over his life (read more).

Julie A. Fast and John D. Preston Psy D ABPP

Considered as a highly misdiagnosed mental disorder, dealing with bipolar disorder can be a very demanding task. This book serves as a very comprehensive resource that spells out the subtleties of the chaos and horror of the maniac and depressive cycles of the disorder. Completely honest in its vast detailing, it serves as an eye-opener on the disease and guides you in being a lifeline and providing a compassionate response, in the process saving marriages and finances. The book puts into words the experiences and feelings of people with bipolar and helps you lead a productive life. Though a few readers feel the book quotes some extreme cases, it has practical ideas for management, written in simple language, which is a great advantage even with non-readers (read more).

Elizabeth Brondolo and Xavier Amador

This book is a classic page-turner; useful, practical, comprehensive, intelligent, accessible, interesting, and most of all hopeful for people with bipolar disorder. It is a must-read for anyone associated with bipolar disorder, be it in self, family, friends, or clients, telling you how to take charge of life despite the illness. One of the highlights of the book is its equal coverage of both phases of the disorder with real-life examples, giving the reader a feeling of “I know how it feels.” It gives an updated insight into the symptom complex, diagnostic techniques, chemical reactions, and medications, and also some worksheets and activities to get your life organized despite the disorder. So you are equipped not just with knowledge on the diagnosis, but also to identify triggers and control them; in effect, how to manage your life despite the racing thoughts, obsessive thoughts, and hallucinations (read more).

Julie A. Fast and John D. Preston

Clinicians feel that Julie, herself afflicted by bipolar, has taken complex clinical cases of bipolar disorder to provide a unique, detailed, stepwise guide to carve a unique path through the disorder. It describes in detail the needs of the person as well as the family members affected by bipolar disorder, thereby helping save marriages and relationships. Giving a clear idea of why the brain is functioning the way it is, the book tells you not to get scared or overwhelmed by the symptoms and also provides tips on how to respond to the mood swings. The workbook is extremely practical, helping you identify triggers and respond appropriately, thus improving your coping skills on the illness. The beauty of the book is it is clearly organized, well-written, and wholesome, also dealing with diet and supplements to help those with bipolar disorder (read more).

Hilary Smith

The author, herself affected by bipolar, gives a thoughtful, engaging, compassionate, intelligent, and comforting perspective on how to deal with your diagnosis. Aimed especially at teenagers and young folks, the writing is funny, cool, and helps you understand the disorder to help you feel and live better. Intense aspects of the disease are explained in a humorous and witty style, with tips on managing college and social life, without being affected by the disorder. The book is informative on the bipolar symptoms and management of the same. It also reassures that despite the disorder, with a little dedication and hard work, you can sleep, eat, exercise, and begin the healing process and live a fulfilling, happy life (read more).

Candida Fink and Joe Kraynak

Candida and Joe realized the fact that aside from the affected person, the family also is passively affected by the bipolar disorder. Therefore, in order to provide a handbook to the family and the patient on how to deal with the disorder, the Bipolar Disorder for Dummies was written. With lists of “how to” on various things, the book gives both the affected person and their loved ones steps on reducing stress and managing the disorder better. Written in a friendly magazine style, the book emphasizes the need to build a stronger support network to get back to a normal track in life. Like the other “For Dummies” series, this too has the information presented in a lighter, witty, and intelligent manner, easy for the layman to understand (read more).

Francis Mark Mondimore

Dr. Mondimore comes up with a very thoroughly written book that has adequate technical knowledge but easy for a layman to understand with its numerous real-life examples and explanations. This comprehensive, well-organized book covers all aspects of the disorder – symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, variations, causes, lifestyle adaptations, preparation for emergencies, coping skills, etc. No stone is left unturned to help the affected person and/or the family to prevent relapse and lead a normal life. Written in a conversational style, this book surely needs to be read by anybody with bipolar – either self or an associate. The book also guides you to other resources – periodicals, textbooks, publications, internet sites, support groups, etc. – that could help you further improve your knowledge and coping skills (read more).

Tom Wootton

Having the bipolar disorder himself, Tom Wootton provides a realistic insight into the disorder with experiences from his own life. Putting his great sense of humor to good use, he sheds light on the illness, which can dampen the spirits of the affected person. Whether it is the plunging into depression with suicidal thoughts or the boundless energy in the maniac phase, Tom gives you some suggestions to cope with the symptoms. Tom believes there is a reason for everything and everyone in this universe, and prompts you to get back on the road to recovery, discovery, wellness, and urges you to find your reason and enjoy life. Though some find his writing to be an exaggerated description of Tom’s experiences, the book surely is food for thought about the disorder (read more).

Monica Ramirez Basco

Doctors acknowledge the fact that medications do only half the trick in managing bipolar disorder, the other half has to be subjectively managed by the patient. This book provides a list of well-designed exercises and worksheets that help the affected people deal with the highs and lows of the disorder. Dealing with bipolar, and more importantly, accepting it half the battle won against fighting it. The exercises help the affected person identify the triggers and disease pattern, thereby acting as a reference tool for future use, helping you identify the onset of symptoms and manage them better. By identifying the past problems and personal trends, this self-help book helps you plan for future success and control over bipolar disorder. This control over the disease is the best weapon that the book provides (read more).

James R. Phelps

Bipolar is one of the most challenging disorders, with constant changes in medications and treatment techniques. Dr. Phelps, an active member in field research, gives this book with recent, practical updates, so that you, and not the disease, control your life. It infuses a lot of hope into the life of the affected people and their loved ones, disproving a lot of misconceptions and answering a lot of questions. Written in simple prose style, it gives details from the microscopic molecular level to confirming the diagnosis to the macroscopic symptoms of bipolar phases. Some people use the book as a reference guide, not reading it from cover to cover, but only specific sections of the book. The book also reviews some of the drugs used in bipolar and explains why and how they are to be used (read more).

John McManamy

After writing newsletters on bipolar for a long time, John McManamy comes up with this amazingly wholesome book that is packed with knowledge, easy to read, and describes the complex phases of depression and mania in simply, layman’s lingo. A must-read for bipolars, it gives the required knowledge to identify the mental temperature and manage the emotional storms better. The books talks of practical issues like identifying the disorder, confirming the diagnosis, working with a psychiatrist, and getting back on the road to recovery. Complementary factors like sleep, nutrition, diet, and exercise to restore brain chemistry are also addressed. It just does not give you a list of psychiatric tools, but analyzes each tool so each affected person can pick the one best suited for his symptoms. Realizing that the patient will want more information, the book also lists other resources where the reader can find more information (read more).

Jane Thompson

This book provides an insight into the life of Jane Thompson who braved through the disease herself after facing major hurdles in life like losing a job. For the affected, bipolar often feels like an endless, hopeless battle, but the author tries to give courage and hope, making you feel that all is not lost yet. Bipolar does pose a lot of challenges, but can be overcome with help from medications and loved ones. Her heroic fight with bipolar, which she does not give in to, makes on realize that deconditioning of compulsive behavior is as important, to not let the disease get the better of you. The book outlines the personal experiences in a candid, nonmedical way, making the affected reader feel like “I’m not alone” which in itself is very encouraging (read more).

Tom Wootton, Peter Forster MD, Maureen Duffy PhD, and Brian Weller

Containing very different ideas from the other books on bipolar, the author refuses to call this either an illness or a disorder, but rather a condition. A condition which can be looked at as a blessing and a challenge to utilize the enhanced creative potential of the manic phase and not let the depressive phase dampen your spirits. The book is insightful, hopeful, and urges one to gain control and mastery over the entire spectrum of the condition – depression, mania, and everything in between. With proper professional help and support, this book tells how positive tools deployed on a regular basis can help live extraordinary lives. Aside from being a good read for people afflicted by the condition, this is a good read for everybody to enhance the spiritual, emotional, and physical well-being. The book provides clear strategies to broaden your limits in life and achieve the impossible (read more).

Chelsea Lowe and Bruce M. Cohen MD PhD

Living with a person who can have mood swings with no warning can be quite a challenge, and this book provides a friendly guide with some excellent coping strategies. It is nontechnical, easy to read, and offers real-life case histories and experiences of people, in the process providing a better insight into the actual disease process, its manifestations, and the management implications. Written with a lot of empathy, Chelsea Lowe and Bruce Cohen provide a book that is a great aid for anybody with the disorder themselves or loved ones (read more).

Author: Stephanie Marohn

After a very in-depth study on what chemicals trigger or inhibit the functioning of the brain, the authors have come up with this extremely useful book which tells you how, with smart application of science, bipolar disorder can be controlled effectively. Reducing or increasing regular diet components like gluten, yeast, caffeine, copper, yeast, sugar, and other biological supplements can affect the brain chemistry, and the book has numerous testimonials to it. The book provides a list of names of the various diet components and also provides the way each one works. For those affected by bipolar, slight modifications in diet can work wonders. For the clinicians, this book serves as a reference guide to try alternative treatment modalities on their patients (read more).

David J. Miklowitz PhD and Elizabeth L. George PhD

Adding to the regular teenager crankiness, a bipolar teen can be extremely confusing and distressing for the parent, finding it extremely difficult to identify a possible mood swing. This book is an empathetic, well-organized, truthful attempt at providing some straight, honest answers without being fatalistic or sugarcoating facts. Not aimed at giving you definite answers, this book gives easy, applicable strategies to help manage bipolar in your teen and issues related to school, home, and social life. It has charts, checklists, examples, and quotes of actual teens and parents, giving an insight to both parties on what to expect and how to work around possible mood swings. This book is touted as a must-read for teenagers and parents alike to get a better hold over the bipolar disorder (read more).

Richard Day Gore and Juliann Garey

For a layperson, understanding the intricacies of a complex disease like bipolar disorder would be quite a tough task. This book which is a collection of essays is personal, informative, at times frightening and at times funny, but often brilliant and makes an honest attempt to help the ordinary person understand the behavior of a person with bipolar disorder. The book is a strongly recommended read for anyone who is either diagnosed with bipolar or has anybody in the close circles. With contributions from medical researchers and practitioners, the essays are placed sequentially and go from characteristics to diagnosis to family life to caring for people with bipolar – providing a complete idea about the disorder (read more).

Paul E. Jones and Andrea Thompson

This down-to-earth narration is targeted at both patients and caregivers of bipolar disorder. It is bound to make you laugh and cry, but more importantly, will be relatable. The depths of depression and the highs of maniac episodes are described with real-life stories, humor, and information in a way that is refreshing. The book aims to encourage people to become hopeful, take charge, and lead a balanced life despite having the disorder. The author gives a lot of ideas that make perfect sense, especially for patients, making them feel that they are not alone, that there is a reason to their behavior, that there is light at the end of the tunnel, and that getting there quickly up to the individual (read more).

Frederick K. Goodwin and Kay Redfield Jamison

Labeled by a few readers as a classic and the ultimate book in the description of bipolar illness, Dr. Kay Jamison gives a personal, yet professional illustration on the disorder, keeping the narration concise, thorough, and easy to understand. A bit technical, but an enjoyable read and totally comprehendible, it covers the causes, treatment, and management of the disorder to help the affected person or the caregiver get a hold on the disease and manage it better, to lead an overall fulfilling, happy life. The book is both inspired and inspiring (read more).

David J. Miklowitz

Penned by David Miklowitz, a leading psychologist, this book serves as a user-friendly guide for patients affected by bipolar disorder and their kith and kin. The depressive periods of feeling down in the dumps when the person is exhausted and fatal alternate with manic periods of soaring high in the sky characterized by unmatchable mental, physical, and spiritual energy. In simple layman terms, the author tries to demystify the disorder, explaining the disease mechanism and the bipolar nature of the disease with well-chosen real-life examples that are both illuminating and horrifying. The easy flow of the book keeps you glued to the book – striking a balance between a novel and a medical journal (read more).