Manic: A Memoir

Very good book that I would read again! This is a book that many affected with mental illness can relate to. Trying to go on with daily existence is so challenging and yet you are given the strength to keep going.

Ms. Cheney does a masterful job with describing the internal life of a severe manic-depressive. She gives insight into many aspects of this disorder including learning to hide it, the constant adjustment of medications, the enjoyment of being hypo-manic, and the "shameful" secrets that accumulate from manic episodes. Ms. Cheney was a high profile entertainment lawyer who hid her disease for a number of years. She gradually spiraled down into non-employment, hospitalizations, and suicide attempts. Ms. Cheney makes the point that medications are the primary solution to this medically-based disorder and that her current one has saved her life. It's a good read and provides an "up close and personal view" of Ms. Cheney's life with bipolar disorder.

I've dealt with depression and a bipolar condition all of my life. When I was younger, I didn't know what it was. At that point, it just manifested itself as a heavy sadness that would hit about every six months or so and last for about a week. Unfortunately, as I grew older and got knocked about by life every so often - especially when I got hammered through no fault of my own and didn't see the reason for it, that cycle accelerated and started lasting longer. During those intervening years, I also pushed my writing hobby (probably cathartic in the beginning) into a full-time career. Which meant that I was forced to (and still do) live primarily out of my own head. That's not always a pleasant place to be. Too many nightmares exist there. And I've learned throughout my life where all the weak points are. When I'm in a downward spiral, I attack myself unmercifully. When I'm in an upward spiral, I can't sit still. I started figuring out my own coping mechanism, based on materials and books I'd read. But that was only after I figured out what I was going through was different than the life other people dealt with. In fact, my first clues as to what I had to face were given to me by friends that suffered from the same anxieties and pressures. These conditions aren't easy to deal with for the person who has them. Or for the people around them. When I first read about Terri Cheney's book, MANIC, I immediately wanted to review it. Here was a successful person who admittedly dealt with the same issues I had, but I didn't know how honest she was going to be about those problems. After reading Cheney's book in a single sitting (because I was mesmerized at watching a train wreck in motion and thinking how similar our strategies for self-destruction were), I have to admit that I couldn't find a single pulled punch. Cheney lays her life out there for inspection and offers no apologies for it. I have to admit, in a lot of ways she had it worse than I did. I had kids at an early age and couldn't allow myself to go full-tilt down some of those dark passageways that she explored. I think they were my anchor, though I know that isn't always the case for everyone. Chaney's book describes her failed relationships, her attempts at chemical and electroshock therapy, her moments of self-discovery, and the seeming impossibility of merely coping in ways that I immediately understood. I don't know if laymen will truly appreciate everything she's done because you have to walk a mile (or several years) in our shoes to know how huge that mountain is to navigate. People who have never dealt with bipolar tendencies or depression, or never had to share their lives with someone that did, probably won't understand everything Cheney writes about. Even without that insight, though, she tells a compelling story. And as every bipolar person is subject to doing, she jumps around in her narrative. I'm also ADHD and I'm willing to bet Cheney is to a degree a

I love this book so much I'm buying it for all my friends in book clubs and for a close relative who is manic-depressive. Because of Manic, I finally understand him on a gut level. I have to confess I would not have bought it just to be informed about bi-polar disease. I bought it because it's a terrific read. I was hooked from the first sentence, "I didn't tell anyone that I was going to Santa Fe to kill myself." I stayed riveted all the way through one of the most chilling and nakedly honest first chapters I've ever read. If this were a novel, I might call it a literary thriller. Terri Cheney passes my test for a good writer: she made me laugh and cry. The book is beautifully written, complex, and uncompromisingly frank. Readers are led by a sane guide that almost belies the dangerous places we are taken, like jail and a padded cell. She balances out the most gut-wrenching scenes with relatable humanity and a dry wit that always charms. Even at the end, when she finds some sanity and balance in her life, she is uncompromisingly honest about the solution: "I didn't miss the life. But, God, how I sometimes missed the lie."

Terri Cheney does an outstanding job of describing what hypomania and mania really feel like from the perspective of someone with bipolar disorder - herself. The book intentionally skips around, as Cheney relates some of the most memorable hypomanic and manic incidents from her life. My wife has bipolar disorder, and many of the situations that Cheney describes ring true with my own observations and the way my wife describes her own manic mood episodes. Cheney's writing style is superb, bringing each scene to life and moving the book along at a rat-a-tat-tat manic pace. I couldn't put it down. As co-author of Bipolar Disorder for Dummies and someone who has a loved one with bipolar disorder, I highly recommend this book. Those who have experienced bipolar mania will find comfort in her words, and friends and family of people with bipolar disorder will gain a deeper understanding and acceptance of their loved ones.