Loving Someone With Bipolar Disorder

Loving Someone With Bipolar Disorder
by Julie A. Fast, John D. Preston

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Book Summary Information

Author: John D. Preston, Julie A. Fast
Edition: Paperback
Published: 2004-02
ISBN: 1572243422
Number of pages: 208
Publisher: New Harbinger Publications

Book Reviews of Loving Someone With Bipolar Disorder

Book Review: Wow...
Summary: 5 Stars

I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder almost 2 years ago and since that time I've found the proper medication and therapy to help me along. I stopped having major depressive and manic episodes but I still had so many behaviors and problems I couldn't explain. I had decided that they stemmed from a personality defect and unless I changed myself, as a person, I could never have a successful relationship.

Upon reading this book it was nearly like reading a memoir of my life. Every unexplainable thing I do was here, things that I never found in any other readings about bipolar disorder. I was always lead to believe that bipolar disorder was so black and white, manic and depressive, and no in between. This book has lead me to be simultaneously relieved and afraid at knowing now why I do the things I do. I feel less ashamed knowing that I wasn't a bad person, and it was really just the disorder. I have the book to thank for that.

The book has an amazing emphasis on not blaming the suffering for behaving the way they do and not thinking that you can talk them out of their symptoms. I appreciate this very much and am glad that there is a book circulating where this is said. I'm also very grateful for a book that says exactly how each individual symptom can be dealt with and is completely tailor made for this disorder, rather than empty, shallow comments about "communication" and "understanding". This book may very well save my relationship. I would recommend this reading for EVERY person suffering from bipolar disorder or those close to the ill.

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Summary of Loving Someone With Bipolar Disorder

Julie Fast and John Preston have written a ground breaking book for couples who want to prevent manic depressive disorder from hijacking their relationship. Fast, a health writer diagnosed with bipolar illness and clinical psychologist Preston are ideal companions. Their innovative ideas will be welcomed by exhausted partners of "bipolar individuals"--whose illness can cause them to alternate between manic and depressed behavior. Once medication has been prescribed, the key is studying the specific ways your partner is effected. This allows couples to develop pro-active strategies for treating and stabilizing mood swings and symptoms, before they develop into full-blown crises. The techniques emphasize prevention, rather than putting out fires. These include understanding the difference between the person and the disease (know when "the bipolar disorder is talking") listing your partner's specific symptoms, identifying the triggers that lead to these symptoms and transforming the "bipolar conversation" The goal of all the tools is to pinpoint early warning signs of a manic or depressive episode and be prepared with a holistic treatment plan. Other segments of the book deal with the work (checkered resumes) and financial problems (spending sprees) created by this illness. The author's ideas are engaging, compassionate and realistic--an oasis of relief and hope. --Barbara Mackoff

When a person loves someone with bipolar disorder, life can be very stressful. From medication troubles to a partner's mood swings the demands on a partner can be intense. Loving Someone with Bipolar Disorder takes a unique and practical approach to these issues.

Written by an author who has bipolar disorder (and who lived with a partner who also has bipolar disorder) and a coauthor with over ten books on the topic of mental illness, the book offers specific, practical and realistic tips on how a couple can work together as a team to create a treatment plan that teaches them to live with the illness while still maintaining a loving and joyful relationship. (Though this book is written for couples, friends and family members can use the techniques in the book as well.)

Loving Someone with Bipolar Disorder provides hope and encourages couples to work together to create a plan they can use to help stabilize bipolar disorder so that their relationship can focus on love and companionship instead of the illness. Chapters include ideas on how to create a comprehensive treatment plan that incorporates medications and supplements, diet, exercise and behavior and lifestyle changes into one practical approach to this very serious illness. The partner of a person with bipolar disorder learns about communicating with their partner when they're ill, getting real about the situation and how to take on other roles in healing besides caretaking. Other specific topics include work and money, emotions, sexual issues and much more. The goal of the book is to help couples create a relationship that is based on support and prevention instead of constant crisis control.

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