A bunch of people in the weekly thread seemed to like this book when it came up so I thought I'd post about it and my thoughts. Be interested to hear other thoughts/perspectives on this book.
Background for my comments: Diagnosed Bipolar Affective Disorder with Psychotic Features. There is a chance that I am Schizoaffective (simply explanation: Bipolar + Schizophrenia, must have psychotic features outside of a mood episode) though the doctors tend towards Bipolar, I'm generally considered too 'high functioning' to be Schizoaffective. Have been having some issues lately which may prompt a re-examining.
The book - definitely an engaging read. Easily read in an evening.
It is interesting to read an account of Bipolar from someone who not only is Bipolar but who deals with the disease professionally.
She draws out very well her childhood with respect to setting up her BP dx, especially when discussing her father.
I don't think any of my mood swings are nearly as bad as hers were (I would say the most prominent of my issues are my psychotic features), but there were a lot of things I could relate to, and it was nice to be able to read a book that was intelligent with respect to the medical side of the disease AND had the patient's perspective.
Some issues I have with the book:
-Lithium. HOLY fuck there are other meds other than lithium. She is OBSESSED with the damn stuff. Personally I fail to understand how lithium controlled her psychotic symptoms (which she makes reference to but does not talk about in depth, much to my disappointment) unless her psychotic features occurred only in the context of her mania, and then I could imagine that if the lithium controlled her mania it could by extension stop any psychotic features. Lithium is a mood stabilizer, NOT an anti-psychotic. I suspect lithium is still used as a 'frontline' BP med so perhaps so extensively discussing the lithium experience is useful but IMO she focused on it far too much.
-Why only the discussion of moods? I see lots of books on bipolar and they're always about mood swings....mood swings are the least of my concerns. I don't understand how psychotic features can be acknowledged as a part of the disease and then constantly glossed over (not just in her book). I was really disappointed that there wasn't any real discussion of this.
Interested to hear what other people thought about it.
Background for my comments: Diagnosed Bipolar Affective Disorder with Psychotic Features. There is a chance that I am Schizoaffective (simply explanation: Bipolar + Schizophrenia, must have psychotic features outside of a mood episode) though the doctors tend towards Bipolar, I'm generally considered too 'high functioning' to be Schizoaffective. Have been having some issues lately which may prompt a re-examining.
The book - definitely an engaging read. Easily read in an evening.
It is interesting to read an account of Bipolar from someone who not only is Bipolar but who deals with the disease professionally.
She draws out very well her childhood with respect to setting up her BP dx, especially when discussing her father.
I don't think any of my mood swings are nearly as bad as hers were (I would say the most prominent of my issues are my psychotic features), but there were a lot of things I could relate to, and it was nice to be able to read a book that was intelligent with respect to the medical side of the disease AND had the patient's perspective.
Some issues I have with the book:
-Lithium. HOLY fuck there are other meds other than lithium. She is OBSESSED with the damn stuff. Personally I fail to understand how lithium controlled her psychotic symptoms (which she makes reference to but does not talk about in depth, much to my disappointment) unless her psychotic features occurred only in the context of her mania, and then I could imagine that if the lithium controlled her mania it could by extension stop any psychotic features. Lithium is a mood stabilizer, NOT an anti-psychotic. I suspect lithium is still used as a 'frontline' BP med so perhaps so extensively discussing the lithium experience is useful but IMO she focused on it far too much.
-Why only the discussion of moods? I see lots of books on bipolar and they're always about mood swings....mood swings are the least of my concerns. I don't understand how psychotic features can be acknowledged as a part of the disease and then constantly glossed over (not just in her book). I was really disappointed that there wasn't any real discussion of this.
Interested to hear what other people thought about it.