Manic-Depressive Illness

This is THE classic text about manic-depressive illness. However, I would not recommend buying it, as it is 10 years old and much has happened in our understanding of the illness in the past decade. Save money; borrow it from the library. Instead, I recommend Dr. Francis Mondimore's "Bipolar Disorder: A Guide for Patients and Families", which is up-to-date, thorough, full of practical advice, and written for laypeople; and any of Kay Redfield Jamison's books, especially "An Unquiet Mind."I have bipolar II and both family members and I have found Dr. Mondimore's book to be VERY helpful.

...disorder, then buy this one. For yourself, to help you understand yourself and to understand your psychiatrist too. And then buy Jamison's autobiography, "An unquiet mind", to lend to family and friends to help them understand as best as any "normal" person can. Comprehensive and technical. But entirely readable, this is THE textbook on the subject and although Jamison was not "out" as one of us at the time she wrote, it still shows! It was frightening in some ways to read this for the first time some years ago, realising just how accurately she and her co-author described my experiences, yet at the same time reassuring that here was someone who really had a grip on this disease. No book gets 5 star reviews from 8 people (so far) without good reason.

This book is everything you need to know about manic-depressive illness that your doctor doesn't have time to tell you. Dr. Kay Redfield Jamison has a passion for the subject and the knowledge to back it up.As and individual afflicted with manic-depressive illness, I have read almost every book Jamison and others have published on Manic-Depressive Illness and can honestly say that if it has her name as author, it is an excellent resource on manic-depressive illness. She is thorough and concise yet easy to understand. This book has it all. Everything you want to know, technically, about manic-depressive illness is in this book. For a personal account, "An Unquiet Mind" is a must, also written by Dr. Kay Jamison Redfield. She is an expert on the topic personally and professionally. What a wonderfully sensative combination.Thanks again Kay!

Having been diagnosed with Bipolar II four years ago, I searched and researched the Internet and bookstores for anything I could find on Manic-Depressive illness. It was by pure chance that I stumbled on this book.Some years ago, I was a nursing student and psychiatric nursing seemed to be my speciality, since I had some innate ability to understand the mind. And, ever the nursing student, I continued long after nursing school to learning more about psychiatric illness, especially once I was diagnosed with it.The book is technical in content, but easy for the layperson to understand, providing they have a good dictionary. Being a nursing student, much of the language comes easy for me, but the layperson can grasp a good understanding of the illness. Their references to Kraepelin were especially important since he was the first to recognized the two poles of the illness.I would recommend this book to any person diagnosed with Bipolar and their families, to help understand their illness and to know they are not alone.

This is an invaluable resource for anyone with Bipolar Disorder (Manic-Depressive Illness) or anyone who loves them. Though targeted at medical professionals, most of the information presented is well within the grasp of an intelligent and motivated layperson. I'm not a doctor of any sort, but I *do* have Bipolar Disorder, and take an active interest and role in my own health-care... this is a terrific book, and it summarizes what is known about the causes, treatment, and management of this disorder as of about 1990. (Hopefully, there will be an update soon!)