Book Reviews

• Melancholy, Mania & Miracles: My Journey With Bipolar Disorder
  I picked up this book because I have bipolar disorder and I wondered how similar or different her story is to mine. Shortly after the book came in the mail, I had surgery and my ...
• From Psychic to Psychotic and Beyond: A True Story About My Bipolar Disorder
  After being admitted to hospital in 2010, following a long period of severe psychosis, Kerry Ann Jacobs was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Her book, From Psychic to Psychotic and Beyond, is the compelling story of how ...
• Hopping Roller Coasters: A Tale of Forgiveness and Healing
    So many times we think we know where we’re headed; then we’re taking an unexpected turn. ~ Hopping Roller Coasters Rachel Pappas’s memoir, Hopping Roller Coasters, details the unpredictable story of a mother and daughter ...
• Resources for Extraordinary Healing: Schizophrenia, Bipolar and Other Serious Mental Illnesses
  Though uneven, Resources for Extraordinary Healing: Schizophrenia, Bipolar and Other Serious Mental Illnesses by Emma Bragdon nevertheless offers some fascinating insights into mental wellness from a perspective not normally considered by the Western psychological community: ...
• How to Talk to Crazy People
  Many different types of people, for many different reasons, read memoirs about mental illness. Some may be suffering from an illness themselves and are looking for guidance or inspiration. Some may have questions as a ...
• Reboot: A Novel of Bipolar Disorder
  After my girlfriend, whom we will call Elle, had her first full-blown manic episode, I began to read several books on bipolar disorder. These included books on medications and the use of ECT (electroconvulsive therapy), which Elle received ...
• A Hidden Madness
  Memoirs of mental illness have crowded the literary landscape for the past two decades, and many have veered toward the sensationalistic in an attempt to stand out from the pack. James T.R. Jones’s A Hidden ...
• Through the Unknowable: Family Life with Depression, Alcohol, and Love
  Self-help books about how to cope with loss or trauma typically tend to fall into one of two simple categories: those which are written by professionals, and those which aren’t. The former tend to be ...
• White Elephants
  As I cried, I wanted to believe it was the alcohol that induced Mom’s words.  I had to believe it was the alcohol.  I don’t want them.  The words rang in my ears.  That’s the ...
• Facing Bipolar: The Young Adult’s Guide to Dealing With Bipolar Disorder
  This book on bipolar disorder is written specifically for teens and young adults with the condition. I chose to read it because I work in the education field and it is helpful to have some ...
• Loud In The House of Myself: Memoir of a Strange Girl
  I found "Loud In The House of Myself: Memoir of a Strange Girl" by Stacy Pershall to be a superbly written, first-person account of a young girl's struggle with borderline personality disorder (BPD) and bipolar ...
• The Natural Medicine Guide to Bipolar Disorder
  Having a special interest in how diet & physical activity help ease the symptoms of mood disorders, I was excited to review Stephanie Marohn’s book The Natural Medicine Guide to Bipolar Disorder.  This review covers ...
• The Boy from Bothell: Bipolar Vietnam Veteran
  Gene Olson’s The Boy from Bothell: Bipolar Vietnam Veteran gives a memoir of his life, his difficulties with bipolar disorder and his fight for sanity.  As Olson notes, bipolar disorder was first described at the ...
• Runaway Mind: My Own Race with Bipolar Disorder
  Runaway Mind by Maggie Reese was a thoroughly enjoyable, engaging and educational book filled with firsthand accounts of what life can be like with bipolar disorder.  Maggie invites us into her life during this very ...
• The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character and Achievement
  What drives a person to success? Sure, a good education and finding just the right career helps. But could there be a genetic predisposition for success? David Brooks examines what makes a person successful in ...
• Transcendental Meditation: What Is It and How Does It Work?
  Being that my job is to feature and review books on psychology, spirituality, and especially the intersection ...
• Psychiatric Tales: Eleven Graphic Stories About Mental Illness
  Before beginning a review of Psychiatric Tales: Eleven Graphic Stories About Mental Illness, this reviewer feels that it is necessary to disclose that it is the very first graphic novel she has ever read.  Keeping ...
• The Naked Bird Watcher, The Snow Globe Journals, and To Walk on Eggshells
  Bipolar disorder is an isolating disease that is difficult to describe and almost impossible to understand from the outside. Its relentless ups and downs create a crushing defeat in the lives of both sufferers and ...
• Disturbances of the Mind
  Disturbances of the Mind by Douwe Draaisma is a book regarding various illnesses ranging from Bonnet Syndrome to Alzheimer’s, with an entire range of brain diseases in between.  It provides an interesting narrative about how ...
• The Bipolar Relationship: How to Understand, Help, and Love Your Partner
  The Bipolar Relationship: How to Understand, Help, and Love Your Partner by Jon P. Bloch, PHD, Bernard Golden, PHD and Nancy Rosenfeld is a very detailed and helpful book meant specifically for romantic partners of ...
• Approaching Neverland: A Memoir of Epic Tragedy & Happily Ever After
  In the 1960s, when author Peggy Kennedy grew up, mental illness was a family secret. It was whispered about, handed off to hospitals, restrained, subjected to electroshock therapy and slews of sedatives and sent back ...
• Bipolar In Order
  Tom Wootton's new book, Bipolar In Order, asks the reader to approach bipolar disorder (otherwise known as manic depression) from a different light. Rather than viewing this mental health condition as a problem needing a ...
• Scattershot: My Bipolar Family
  It was back in the '50s. One day my friend's mother just disappeared. That Sunday as they gathered in the church parking lot, the other mothers whispered. My friend stood next to me and cried. ...
• The Depression Advantage
  Depression, like other mental illnesses, is rarely seen as a good thing. While many can articulate positive things about having a mental illness (or knowing someone who does), the illness itself is almost never ...
• The Cyclothymia Workbook
  The Cyclothymia Workbook: Learn How To Manage Your Mood Swings & Lead A Balanced Life Cyclothymia is a mood disorder characterized by cycling periods of hypomania-unusual emotional highs-and periods of mild to moderate depression. The condition ...