Family Experiences of Bipolar Disorder: The Ups, The Downs and the Bits In Between

excellent book for people with bipolar showing their real life experience of the disorder and also childrens accounts of living with a bipolar parent brilliant to understand and also written by someone who has bipolarI found this very refreshing and sometimes painful as I have bipolar but it really helped sharing experiences with others in the same situation and to look at the positive recovery and remision too sue

Thank you so very much!!this book is extremely useful and well written. Highly Reccomended for social care professionals. people who live with the condition as well as their friends and families

certanly one of the best books ive read, if i didnt know i suffered from bi.polar i do now,. A must read and pass it on to family and friends that dont understantd the condition.

I found this book most helpful for me and my friends and family.

Family Experiences of Bipolar Disorder: The Ups, the Downs and the Bits in BetweenI am 21 years old and my mother has bipolar disorder. Prior to reading this book I had given up on any hope I had for a future as a family due to my mothers illness. This book has changed my life. It dropped onto my doormat 3 weeks ago, sent from one of my former lecturer's at Uni who knew how I was stumbling in the dark. I read this book within 2 days and started out by reading the children's accounts of living with a bipolar parent. It felt as though I was speaking the words myself. We all seem to have very similar feelings and thoughts. I have read every page of this book and feel so much more aware of the illness and the implications surrounding it. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. I have passed it onto my younger brother which has stirred up conversations we've never before felt able to have. I've told my mum how this has changed me and she is waiting to read it too. I know this will help all the members of the family as well as friends and professionals. I would imagine the doctor's themselves will learn a lot of 'inside' information from this book too. I cannot think of anything that hasn't been included - it covers such a wide spectrum.The Author of this book has been brutally honest throughout and I admire her determination in producing a book - a bible of information, based on her love for her children. Five stars and well done Cara Aiken if you read this!

I suffer with bi-polar, and have done for 30 years.I have read many articles, and started to read just as many books-but never finished them! Most books are very hard work to plough through as they are very 'wordy' and 'academic'.No other book has dealt with the issue of how a diagnosis of bi-polar in one member of a family affects all other family members.The knock-on effect for all other members of the family cannot be underestimated, but is rarely addressed by either the health-care specialists or other authors.This book has it all-good medical explanations and advice about drugs,symptoms,coping strategies etc, and also real-life experiences written by not only the people with bi-polar,but their immediate families aswell.Even the children who live with a bi-polar affected parent have contributed to this book-and it is interesting to see how these children all develop their own ways of coping. Some children are affected more than others-but what is evident is that they all accept and love the parent who has bi-polar unconditionally and would rather have their parent the way they were than not at all.This book also explores the challenges marriages face when this condition presents in one partner-some relationships survive, and others dont,but every family devises its own way of coping.I would recommend this book for anyone who has bipolar,who has a partner or parent with the condition and even the medical staff treating bi-polar patients.It is easy to read-I read it in a day-something I have never done before, and have since read it again.Please dont think 'oh no-not another book on bi-polar'-this book takes a very different approach to anything else I have ever read before, and will be buying copies for the rest of my family-just so that they can understand why I behave in the way I do at times-I have never come across a book before that I would consider giving to anyone else,but this is not your average run of the mill book on bi-polar.Quite simply BRILLIANT!

I bought this book because it has contributions from another author, Sandy Knox, who wrote with great empathy & understanding about life with Bi-Polar and from which I gained great solace. When I began reading this book, I actually wasn't expecting what I got at all. It is written with such love and joy that you feel embraced all the way through. I actually felt like the author knew me and that the love and warmth she feels for her family she holds for everyone. It was also reassuring to read how people from all walks of life and with all kinds of family circumstances cope with the illness that surrounds and affects them.Manic-depression is a dibilitating illness which can wreak havoc on any family but this book is a huge help because it reassures both the sufferer and their family members that they are not alone, that they can find their own way to cope and that they can still enjoy loving, warm relationships.Thank you for putting it all in perspective.

This book really did not meet my expectations because it was written by a doctor fromEngland, so the language and terminology seemed strange. There were some good examples ofindividuals who have Bipolar Disorder and how their family members deal with it.Maybe psychologists from the U.S. could learn something from research studies beingdone in England about this mysterious disorder.