Surviving Manic Depression: A Manual on Bipolar Disorder for Patients, Families, and Providers

by Michael B. Knable and E. Fuller Torrey

Book Overview

Surviving Manic Depression is the most authoritative book on this disorder, which affects more than two million people in the U.S. alone. Based on the latest research, it provides detailed coverage of every aspect of manic depression-from understanding its causes and treatments to choosing doctors and managing relapses-with guidance drawn from the latest scientific information. Drs. Torrey and Knable provide thorough, up-to-date coverage of...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0465086640
• ISBN13: 9780465086641
• Release Date: March 2005
• Publisher: Basic Books
• Length: 432 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 5.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

The Best Book of Its Type

I have read several intelligently written books on the subject of manic depression. I have suffered from the disorder for twenty-six years and have not been able to find a better book on the subject. Chances are the new paperback edition, which should be updated to include new medications, will be even better than this book. I have read several books by E. Fuller Torrey, who is, to my knowledge, America's most reliable and caring psychiatrist for the severely mentally ill.

More than you expect

The title does this book justice. Manic Depression afflicts more than a million and may affect as many as 3,000,000 people in the US alone. With that many suffering, there is no dearth of literature on this subject. Yet most of the information prior even to the early 1990's is dated and obtuse. There is much confusion in the earlier literature between schizophrenia and bipolar. It is now understood that bipolar disorders are chemical deficiencies in the brain and can largely be controled by medications and that the patients can achieve normalcy. That's where this book is so valuable. Just published in 2002, it reviews the most recent meds and their side effects. Someone suffering with this condition needs to know this stuff. Moreover there is comprehensive information for those suffering from clinical depression and other disorders that medications frequently can help. And that's my final remark on this wealth of information. That's why it lives up to its title. This book helps the patient and her/his family to cope. As with meds, the patients learn their life problems never really go away, but how they deal with them improves. After reading this book, both patients and those who interact with them will be enriched in their comprehension and better able to adapt to the bipolar condition.

An extremely important book

This is a book I wish no one had to read, but for those of us who have a loved one suffering from manic depression, this is the absolutely essential read. There are some parts of it, concerning various studies and statistics, which aren't really germane to what we, as family members, need to know about the illness, but the bulk of the work is tremendously helpful. We are given the symptoms of the illness, in all of its varied forms, and quite importantly, the current medications are thoroughly discussed, with all of their helps and hindrances, including side effects and interactions with other drugs. It's not an easy book to read, but I don't mean that in the comprehension sense: in that way, anyone can read and understand. It's just that manic depression is such a terrible illness, not only on the person who has it, but on all those around that person who love him or her and try to be helpful. When you read some of the small case studies, and also learn about some of the very tragic situations for those afflicted, sometime you just want to close the book and cry for awhile. However you get through this book, it's essential that you do, for it can only improve everyone's understanding of this illness, and hopefully enable the rest of us to cope with, and love unequivocally, our ill family member. More than any drug or treatment, I truly believe that love and unconditional care from us is essestial. It's not a cure, but it will help.

Latest findings on manic depression's causes and treatment

Bipolar disorders's risk factors, symptoms, and treatment options are surveyed in a title which covers the historical treatment of the disorder, its special challenges, and the related problems which can affect individuals. From an assessment of drugs newly on the market to further references on websites and video, Surviving Manic Depression covers the latest findings on manic depression's causes and treatment.