Product Description

Bipolar Disorder affects many more people than just the 2.5 million Americans who suffer from the disease. Like depression and other serious illnesses, bipolar disorder also affects spouses, partners, family members, friends and coworkers. And, according to the Child and Adolescent Bipolar Foundation, 15% of children diagnosed with ADHD may actually be suffering from early-onset of Bipolar Disorder.

Bipolar Disorder For Dummies reveals some of the causes and consequences of bipolar disorder, let you in on some crisis survival strategies, and describe ways that friends and family members can support loved ones who have the disease. The book includes an overview of the causes and symptoms of bipolar disorder, explains step-by-step how to obtain an accurate diagnosis, discusses the medications available, and tells what you can and can't do to help someone with the disease. You'll learn:

• The different categories and potential causes of bipolar disorder
• How to select the right mental health specialist
• Managing employment-related issues brought on because of the disorder
• How bipolar disorder affects children
• Advocating for yourself or a loved one
• Planning ahead for manic and depressive episodes
• Selecting the best medications for you—including alternative "natural" treatments
• How to survive an immediate crisis situation
• Identifying triggers and mapping your moods

Complete with fill-in-the-blanks forms and charts, key web site and email addresses, and first-hand accounts from real people, Bipolar Disorder For Dummies gives you the latest information and self-help strategies you and your loved ones need to help everyone affected feel a whole lot better.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #30910 in Books
• Published on: 2005-09-02
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 360 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780764584510
• Condition: USED - ACCEPTABLE
• Notes:
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Review
"...Bipolar expert Candida Fink has written a book that explains it clearly, and provides plenty of advice on the latest drugs as well as telling you how to spot early signs of the condition..." (Independent on Sunday, 25^th September 2005)

From the Back Cover
Identify your stressors and triggers

Get an accurate diagnosis and get on with your life!

Want to know more about bipolar disorder? This reassuring guide explains the brain chemistry behind the disease and covers the latest medications and therapies. You get sound advice and self-help techniques that you and your loved ones, including kids and teens, can use to ease and eliminate symptoms, function in times of crisis, plan ahead for manic or depressive episodes, and feel a whole lot better.

Discover how to

• Select a mental health specialist
• Take control of your treatment
• Maintain mood stability
• Make positive lifestyle changes
• Know your medication options

About the Author
Candida Fink, MD (New Rochelle, New York) is a Board Certified Adult, Child, and Adolescent Psychiatrist in private practice in the New York area. Dr. Fink graduated from Boston University Medical School and did her postgraduate training through Harvard Medical School. She’s currently an Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Westchester Medical College. She has worked extensively with children and adults with complicated psychiatric illnesses. Mood disorders, especially the diagnostic and treatment questions surrounding bipolar disorder, comprise much of her practice. She also works extensively with schools and other institutions regarding developmental and psychiatric issues. Dr. Fink grew up with mood disorders in her family, so she has seen them from every angle and knows the importance of mobilizing the family as a part of any successful treatment. She has previously coauthored, with Judith Lederman, The Ups and Downs of Raising a Bipolar Child: A Survival Guide for Parents (Fireside). She frequently consults and speaks on bipolar disorder in children.

Joe Kraynak, MA (Speedway, Indiana) is a freelance author who has written and co-authored dozens of books on topics ranging from slam poetry to personal computers. Joe received his degree in bipolar disorder from the College of Hard Knocks. On December 10, 1999, Joe’s wife, Cecie, a Spanish teacher at the time, was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Since that day, they have bounced around to a half dozen doctors and even more therapists, broke in a few young marriage counselors, survived several changes in health insurance coverage, attended dozens of support group meetings, and endured the career changes and financial hardships that commonly accompany bipolar disorder. In this book, Joe offers his experience and insight from life in the trenches.

Customer Reviews

If you don't want answers, don't buy this book!
BPfD is succinct and practical, offers clear explanations of the disease and its pain. Written from perspective of both patient and loved ones, it is not frightening, falsely cheery, or professionally overbearing. Gives How To lists for pre- and post-diagnosis.

Great book, with an appropriate sense of humour too. I rate it a "must buy".

From the Authors: Dr. Candida Fink and Joe Kraynak
When we sat down to discuss our approach for Bipolar Disorder For Dummies, we considered the audience for the book and decided to address both those who have been diagnosed with BP and their friends and family members. One of the most challenging aspects of BP is that although only one person might carry the diagnosis, friends and family members are all affected by BP in some way and all play an important role in reducing stress and assisting the person who has BP obtain and maintain treatment.

Both of us (Candida in her practice and Joe in his family) noticed that family members, simply by being uninformed, can unwittingly increase the stress that often triggers a mood episode. The family member who has BP is more sensitive to stressors and is the one who eventually "takes the hit" for any dysfunction in the family, and then that person gets tagged as "the problem," which, to say it nicely, sure doesn't help a whole lot. We wanted to ensure that friends and family members are well aware of their roles and responsibilities. By becoming better informed, through our book and other sources of accurate information, family and friends can learn more effective techniques for communicating with one another and building a more effective support network.

To develop a clearer understanding of what BP feels like from the eyes of someone who's living with it, we strongly recommend An Unquiet Mind by Kay Redfield Jamison. Our book is more of a comprehensive how-to manual that discusses the diagnosis and the most effective treatment options currently available. We believe that medication alone is very helpful but often not completely effective, for whatever reason, and we recommend several therapies in addition to medication, including cognitive behavioral therapy, social rhythm therapy, and relationship and family therapy. We also discuss alternative therapies, some of which are complete bunk and others of which some people with BP have found helpful. By presenting the available tools and helping readers steer clear of useless or counterproductive alternatives, we hope to enable those with BP and their families, with the guidance of their qualified doctors and therapists, to structure a treatment plan that works most effectively for all involved.

An Excellent Sour For Information
Even though I was dx-ed 8-years ago and know a lot about manic-depression, this book had a lot of good information in it that I wasn't aware of. It is also a good handbook for my fience so that she knows how to deal with my moods and how they effect her moods.

If your fulmiliar with they typical "Dummies" type book and how easy they are to follow along, and you are Bi-Polar, or a loved one is, then this is the book for you. Easy to read, quick to learn. A Very well written book. I give it an "A+" rating.