The Bipolar Bear Family is a story about a young cub who struggles to understand his mother's behavior and her subsequent diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder. The story of The Bipolar Bear Family helps children of bipolar parents address such questions as: Is this my fault? Is it contagious? Can I fix it? According to the National Institute for Mental Health, Bipolar Disorder affects more than 2 million American adults. Further, we know that the dynamics of Mental Illness closely mirror the dynamics of alcoholism and addiction in its impact on the family system. By compassionately educating parents and children, the author hopes to make a life-long difference for these courageous families.
Sometimes Bipolar Bear finds himself at the bright North Pole or the dreary South Pole. Using tools he finds either on his own or with the help of his family, he's able to make his way back to his home. Cut out the sunglasses and the flashlight in the back to get involved, and if you flip through the pages quickly, you just may find a nice surprise!
Fictional story about Brandon, a young boy living with bipolar disorder. Readers learn about his symptoms, fears, and treatment from a child's viewpoint.
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.
Six million people in America suffer from bipolar disorder. Joan Child's daughter, Pamela, suffered from the disorder, bouncing from doctor to doctor in search of treatment. Yet the demons great louder, and on a summer day in July 1998, the same day that the Oprah Winfrey Show aired a segment on bipolar disorder, Joan Childs' 34-year-old-daughter leaped to her death from the window of her father's 15-story apartment. An Angel to Remember is her mother Joan's haunting story of grief and guilt, yet it is a beautiful story of love and the courage to find peace and purpose once again.
The Star Child, a tiny flame of vapor, invisible and timeless, watches the Earth from far, far away. He marvels at the blue swirls of the ocean and the green land, a bright spot turning through the darkness of space. He wants to go to this wondrous place, but he ponders: What will that life be like? "You will be plunged into Earth's river of time," his elders tell the Star Child. "There will be so much for you to learn and so much for you to feel—pleasure and fear, joy and disappointment, sadness and wonder." Through spare, artful text and intricate illustrations, Claire A. Nivola celebrates the cycle of life. A Frances Foster Book
Have you ever felt like others would think that you're different? That's exactly the way that Emma feels when her teacher announces the class project to create a family tree. Emma is certain that everyone in her class won't understand and accept what it means to be adopted. Can she solve her dilemma? 38 pagesAges 3-9Includes Chinese symbol scavenger hunt, vocabulary study, create-your-own family tree page, and a page to draw your family.
Soon to be a major motion picture, from Brad Pitt and Tony Kushner A Washington Post Best Book of 2015 A mid-century doctor's raw, unvarnished account of his own descent into madness, and his daughter's attempt to piece his life back together and make sense of her own. Texas-born and Harvard-educated, Dr. Perry Baird was a rising medical star in the late 1920s and 1930s. Early in his career, ahead of his time, he grew fascinated with identifying the biochemical root of manic depression, just as he began to suffer from it himself. By the time the results of his groundbreaking experiments were published, Dr. Baird had been institutionalized multiple times, his medical license revoked, and his wife and daughters estranged. He later received a lobotomy and died from a consequent seizure, his research incomplete, his achievements unrecognized. Mimi Baird grew up never fully knowing this story, as her family went silent about the father who had been absent for most of her childhood. Decades later, a string of extraordinary coincidences led to the recovery of a manuscript which Dr. Baird had worked on throughout his brutal institutionalization, confinement, and escape. This remarkable document, reflecting periods of both manic exhilaration and clear-headed health, presents a startling portrait of a man who was a uniquely astute observer of his own condition, struggling with a disease for which there was no cure, racing against time to unlock the key to treatment before his illness became impossible to manage. Fifty years after being told her father would forever be “ill” and “away,” Mimi Baird set off on a quest to piece together the memoir and the man. In time her fingers became stained with the lead of the pencil he had used to write his manuscript, as she devoted herself to understanding who he was, why he disappeared, and what legacy she had inherited. The result of his extraordinary record and her journey to bring his name to light is He Wanted the Moon, an unforgettable testament to the reaches of the mind and the redeeming power of a determined heart.
"Sometimes Mummy has happy days, where she talks and laughs all day long. Sometimes Mummy is sad. She cries all day and stays in bed. Sometimes she's so sad she has to go to hospital." The symptoms of a mental illness can be challenging enough for adults to understand and live with. For a child whose parent lives with bipolar disorder, witnessing and experiencing the highs and lows that this particular mental illness brings with it can be very difficult for a child to process. 'My Happy Sad Mummy' provides both a starting point; for the necessary dialogue that will lead the child to a clearer awareness and understanding of their parent's illness, as well as comfort; to know that their experience is a shared one. "I strongly recommend 'My Happy Sad Mummy' - I have not seen anything of its like before." - Professor Philip Mitchell (AM, Scientia Professor, Head of the School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales and Director of the Black Dog Institute) "Author Michelle's personal journey of living these experiences suffuses the book with meaning and a gentle humour, which will provide families with wonderful opportunities for conversation about making sense of the situation." - Rose Cuff (Executive Director, Satellite Foundation. Victorian FaPMI Coordinator - Families where a Parent has a Mental Illness).
