Family Experiences of Bipolar Disorder
Family Experiences of Bipolar Disorder

Author: Cara Aiken

Publisher: Jessica Kingsley Publishers

Published: 2010-06-15

Total Pages: 178

ISBN-13: 0857003879

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Bipolar disorder can be a devastating illness, seriously affecting not only the person with bipolar but also their children, partner, parents, family and friends. While most people are familiar with the terms 'manic depressive' and 'bipolar disorder', there remains a lack of real understanding about the illness and many sufferers and their families can feel helpless, alone and misunderstood. Family Experiences of Bipolar Disorder is a personal and honest account of bipolar disorder. The author Cara Aiken has lived with bipolar for 10 years, and in this book she gathers together her experiences and those of a host of contributors to portray the reality of the illness and its impact on family life. Their children give open and frank accounts of their lives with a bipolar parent, and partners and close family members explain how it has affected them. The book also features important facts and figures related to bipolar which are contributed by leading experts. This moving and insightful book will provide an invaluable source of guidance, advice and support to people with bipolar disorder and their families, as well as an insight for professionals into the reality of life with the illness.

Finding Balance
Finding Balance

Author: Jeff Krukar

Publisher: Rtc Publishing

Published: 2015-09-20

Total Pages: 146

ISBN-13: 9781939418760

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Everyone has good days and bad days--but for seventeen-year-old Alex Magana, the shifts between despair and elation are dramatic, and they impact every area of his life. For years, Alex has been misdiagnosed with depression. In fact, he has bipolar disorder, and the correct diagnosis is only the beginning of his journey. Along with his parents, Alex must navigate the complex physical and emotional effects of using psychotropic medication, eventually discovering that medication is only one component of a lifelong comprehensive treatment plan. Based on dozens of intensive interviews with parents and clinicians, Finding Balance shares the challenges and triumphs of using medication to help treat a significant psychiatric disorder, as well as provides invaluable education for families on similar roads.

The Impact of an Emotional High
The Impact of an Emotional High

Author: Jen Kraakevik

Publisher: Positively Powered

Published: 2021-11-16

Total Pages: 200

ISBN-13: 9781954479999

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Author Jen Kraakevik takes readers on her whole-hearted, beautifully messy journey to make sense of bipolar disorder in her book, The Impact of an Emotional High: How to Talk about Bipolar Disorder with Your Family. Learn from her deeply personal discoveries how she learned to talk about her father's diagnosis with her family. Jen reveals her struggles, emotions, and the unhelpful thought patterns and viewpoints that colored her lived experiences to inspire and connect with others who have family members diagnosed with bipolar disorder. She gently guides readers to learn how to talk with their own family by creating goals, deciding what to ask, allowing for grief, practicing new ways of communication, and knowing what to do when they don't know what to do. The Impact of an Emotional High gives readers a chance to process, connect, and talk about bipolar disorder so they can come out of hiding and make necessary changes in their own lives.

Mind Race
Mind Race

Author: Patrick E. Jamieson

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2006-08-15

Total Pages: 193

ISBN-13: 019972847X

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The life of a person with bipolar disorder can be tumultuous. Imagine living in a world divided into many parts: one is fast-paced, frantic, energetic--you are at the top of your game and feeling invincible; another is so bleak and dark that even the simple task of going to the store requires Herculean effort. Now imagine a third: going about your daily routing when another manifestation, the mixed state, combines these symptoms simultaneously. This is just a glimpse into the world of a person with bipolar disorder Many people diagnosed with this disorder are adolescents: young people who often feel isolated, unsure of who to talk to, or where to turn for help or answers. Having been diagnosed with the disorder at age fifteen, Patrick Jamieson knows firsthand the highs and lows and bring his experiences to bear in Mind Race: A Firsthand Account of One Teenager's Experience with Bipolar Disorder, the first in the Annenberg Mental Health Initiative series written specifically for teenagers and young adults. Mind Race is a first-person account, aimed at teens who have recently been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, informative in a compassionate, good-humored, yet authoritative manner. Jamieson discusses his own challenges and triumphs, and offers advice on dealing with developing symptoms such as how to recognize the beginning of a mood shift. In accessible language, he presents the latest in scientific research on the disorder, treatment options, and how to cope with side effects of different medications. He includes a detailed F.A.Q. that answers the questions a newly diagnosed adolescent is likely to have, and also offers suggestions on how to communicate with friends and family about the bipolar experience. With Mind Race, Jamieson offers hope to teens and young adults living with bipolar disorder, helping them to navigate and overcome their challenges so they can lead a full and rewarding life.

Living With Someone Who's Living With Bipolar Disorder
Living With Someone Who's Living With Bipolar Disorder

Author: Chelsea Lowe

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2010-01-08

Total Pages: 279

ISBN-13: 047055049X

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An essential resource for anyone who has a close relationship with a person who is bipolar This book provides a much-needed resource for family and friends of the more than 5 million American adults suffering from bipolar disorder. From psychotic behavior that requires medication to milder mood swings with disturbing ups and down, this book offers a warm and often humorous user-friend guide for coping with bipolar loved ones, colleagues, and friends. The book includes Guidance for identifying bipolar disorder symptoms and how to get the diagnosis confirmed Strategies for dealing with rants, attacks, blame, depression, mania and other behaviors Crucial information on medication and its effectiveness and potential side-effects Techniques for dealing with attempts to self-medicate with drugs and alcohol How many people with bipolar disorders can care for themselves, get help, feel supported and go on with their own lives This important book contains real-life illustrative examples and a wealth of helpful strategies and coping mechanisms that can be put into action immediately.

Family Experiences with Mental Illness
Family Experiences with Mental Illness

Author: Gail Gamache

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 2000-03-30

Total Pages: 208

ISBN-13: 031339024X

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Tessler and Gamache provide substantial research on the impact of mental illness on the family through interviews conducted with hundreds of family members between 1989 and 1997. According to the authors, how families experience the mental illness of a relative depends on many social factors, including how public mental health services are organized and financed, and whether families feel judged or supported by professionals. Most family members experience a range of emotions toward one another ranging from warmth and gratification to anger and rejection. Tessler and Gamache detail the family experience with mental illness in terms of both negative and positive feelings. They take a holistic approach to the family experience and present a variety of family responses and dilemmas. The family members whose stories are told are diverse in respect to race, gender, age, and relationship, and the demographic-clinical characteristics of their relatives with mental illness. Tessler and Gamache find that the amount of burden that family members experience depends, in part, on which dimension of burden is being addressed. When burden is defined as assistance in daily living, it is less than what was thought. On the other hand, the subjective burden associated with supervision and control is substantial. Family role and residence contribute to most dimensions of burden. For example, a mother living with an adult son with schizophrenia will experience mental illness differently than the brother who has moved out of the family home and moved to another state. In both studies, a major finding involved lower than expected expenditures by family members for medication and mental health treatment in both studies. Most expenditures were focused instead on personal or survival needs, which for a sub-sample of family members involves considerable expenditures. This work is an important research finding for scholars, students, and professionals involved with social work, public health, and public mental health policy.

Mary Quite Contrary
Mary Quite Contrary

Author: Gayle Lagman-Creswick

Publisher: iUniverse

Published: 2007-08

Total Pages: 194

ISBN-13: 0595440762

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How do you cope with family conflict that seems so overwhelming you don't know where to turn? According to the National Institute of Mental Health, there are more than twenty million people with Bipolar Disorder. Gayle Carson Lagman-Creswick believes there are millions more who go undiagnosed, at least for a good part of their life-people like her daughter Mary, who wasn't diagnosed with the disorder until well into her thirties.From violence to hospitalization to prison, Lagman-Creswick shares her experiences with Mary and the roller coaster of emotions and struggles that leads to her daughter's Bipolar Disorder diagnosis and subsequent treatment. Through a combination of tenacity, determination, and patience, Lagman-Creswick learns how to balance the daily demands of a career and raising six kids.Mary Quite Contrary is a beautiful story of how one family overcame the crippling effects of mental illness with unconditional love. The determination and the ability to forgive by both mother and daughter is an inspiration to anyone dealing with family members or friends who may have a mood disorder.

Scattershot
Scattershot

Author: David Lovelace

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 312

ISBN-13: 9780525950783

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An account of the author's predominantly bipolar family discusses his parents' and brother's struggles with their symptoms, his own development of bipolar disorder, and his observations on the connection between his family's illness and their religious faith.