Living With Someone Who's Living With Bipolar Disorder: A Practical Guide for Family, Friends, and Coworkers » (Original)

Chelsea Lowe is a health writer and essayist and the author of The Everything Health Guide to OCD. She has written feature articles and essays for NPR, Newsweek, Newsday, the Los Angeles Times, the Boston Globe, and other publications.

Bruce M. Cohen, MD, PhD, is emeritus director of the Harvard University– affiliated McLean Hospital and the Robertson-Steele Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Cohen is a national leader in the study and treatment of bipolar disorders.

Living with Someone Who's Living with Bipolar Disorder

If you love someone who has bipolar disorder, this warm, sometimes humorous, user-friendly book will give you the information you need to deal with changing moods, turbulent ups and downs, depression, mania, and other behaviors that are disturbing. Designed as a hands-on guide and written in everyday, nontechnical language, the book offers practical answers to the most commonly asked questions about bipolar disorder.

"A spellbinding look. For those touched personally by this long misunderstood disorder—a must-read that could change your life."—Patricia Cornwell, best-selling mystery author

"With this book, Dr. Cohen and Chelsea Lowe will bring palpable comfort to those whose lives have been affected by bipolar disorders."—Glenn Close, award-winning actress and advocate

"This is a much-needed book. Although common, bipolar disorder remains widely misunderstood. Chelsea Lowe and Bruce Cohen have written a highly accessible book full of accurate and useful information."—Steven E. Hyman, provost, Harvard University; former director, National Institute of Mental Health

Publishers Weekly

In the experience of bipolar disorder specialist Cohen (director of Harvard University's McLean Psychiatric Hospital), treatment is always more effective "when a partner was involved" to provide ongoing support. Thus, he and science writer Lowe team up to produce a helpful source of support and information for that partner, who is sure to face his or her own problems coping and keeping up. The volume's first part provides useful information about the disease, which is estimated to afflict between five and ten million Americans and is characterized by extreme, polar opposite states of mood (encompassing, at times, both mania and suicidal depression) and a constellation of symptoms like sleeplessness, extreme irritability, hypersexuality, substance abuse, and delusions of grandeur or persecution. The second part describes the particular issues partners face when living with a bipolar sufferer, and includes approaches to communication and coping, workplace situations, intimacy, and the event of suicide threats or attempts. Throughout, Lowe and Cohen emphasize the importance of counseling for both patient and partner, and of soliciting support from all sources: relatives, friends, and even employers. This helpful, compassionate guide to making a "productive and loving life" despite an unpredictable disease is capped with excerpts from the DSM-IV-TR and a list or resources.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Preface ix

Introduction xiii

Part 1 Understanding Bipolar Disorder 1

1 What Is (and Isn't) Bipolar Disorder? 3

2 A Brief, Colorful History (and Some Science) of Bipolar Disorder 19

3 Getting an Accurate Diagnosis 35

4 Understanding Medication 53

5 Understanding Psychosocial Therapies and Medical Treatment Options 71

Part 2 Living with Your Partner 87

6 Building a Support Team 89

7 Bipolar Disorders and the Workplace 107

8 Communication and Coping Skills 127

9 Coping with Negative and Dangerous Behaviors 147

10 Sex, Intimacy, and Relationship Issues 161

11 Suicide Attempts, Hospitalization, and Commitment 177

12 Family Matters 193

Appendix: Excerpts from the DSM-IV-TR Diagnostic Criteria for Bipolar Disorder 209

Notes 233

Resources 237

About the Authors 245

Index 247