These are among the books we regard as most helpful to family and friends of people with bipolar disorder who are trying to understand the disorder, the behaviors that arise from it, and the often difficult path to finding effective treatment. The list is divided into four sections: Autobiography/Biography, Mental Illness in General, Self Help and Other Books.

We Heard the Angels of Madness: One Family's Struggle with Manic Depression - Diane and Lisa Berger A BPSO Review here!
Paperback, Quill, 1992, 312 pages. ISBN: 0688116159. Read the Blurb.

Written by a mother and sister about a teenage son/brother, this was the first book about bipolar disorder I read almost 9 years ago when I was trying figure out what was causing my daughter's very different and difficult to deal with behavior. I don't remember a great deal about it, and I believe what I had was a library edition, but I do know it pointed me in the right direction regarding what was "wrong" with my daughter.

A Brilliant Madness: Living with Manic Depressive Illness - Patty Duke and Gloria Hochman
Paperback, Bantam, 1997, 368 pages. ISBN: 0553560727. Read the Blurb.

This is the actor's in-depth exposition of her mental illness and the way she has dealt with it. Interestingly, she seems to be one of the exceptions to the rule that people with mental illness generally deny, at least at first, that anything could be wrong. Ms. Duke's reaction to being told of a diagnosis of manic depression was that it "finally had a name!" and could be dealt with. She was, however, in her late 30's (if I remember correctly... could be wrong) when the diagnosis came and had been through many tumultous years prior. She is, however, one of the persons with bipolar disorder who religiously takes her medication, and can't imagine her life without lithium. A pretty easy read, and a book that I think would be good for people with mental illness themselves to read.

Call Me Anna: The Autobiography of Patty Duke - Patty Duke and Kenneth Turan
Paperback, Bantam, 1988, 320 pages. ISBN: 0553272055.

Autobiography of Oscar and Emmy award winning actor Patty Duke, this one details her whole life, including her diagnosis with bipolar disorder. It's been awhile since I read it, but remember it as an easy read, and wholly comprehensible.

What Goes up... Surviving the Manic Episode of a Loved One - Judy Eron
Paperback, Barricade Books, 2005, 212 pages. ISBN: 1569802858.

Judy Eron in her introduction to "What Goes Up: Surviving the Manic Episode of Loved One," begins the chronicle of her husband Jim's mania by elucidating the "strange set of circumstances" she, herself, experienced during the time Jim was sick. "It's a strange set of circumstances when a wife wakes up every morning wishing her husband would get depressed or arrested." she says. "It's a strange set of circumstances when a wife wakes up every morning hoping her husband has an automobile accident which puts him in the hospital for an extended period." she writes. "It's a strange set of circumstances when a wife wakes up every morning praying that her husband will be caught running naked in the streets." With these first, powerful words, one is instantly captured and drawn into Judy's struggle in dealing with her husband's manic episode. Jim, who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder years prior, had been stable on medication for well over 9 years. Meeting and marrying Judy after the diagnosis and beginning medication -- both were professional people, he a psychologist and she a social worker -- the couple seemed to be building an idyllic relationship Then, on a cross-country trip, Jim "forgets" to bring his medication, and, in three weeks without it, decides he feels much better not taking it. This is the prelude to what Judy describes as The Bad Year. Jim heads into a full-blown mania, and becomes what has come to be known by one group of Significant Others as a "runner," desperately seeking to change his inner turmoil by changing his external circumstance. Though a chronicle of a mania, and subsequent "crash," this slim volume is not strictly about bipolar disorder. It's also about deep love and loyalty; courage and confusion in the midst of committment; and respect, regret and much reflection. A compelling story, valuable, not for any "do's" or "don'ts" which are contained therein, but for its significant power to imbue the feeling in persons dealing with a loved one suffering with a bipolar mania that, finally, someone truly understands and has written about, the collateral effects being visited on "me."

Madness: A Bipolar Life - Marya Hornbacher Book Web Site A BPSO Review here!
Hardback, Houghton Mifflin, 2008, 299 pages. ISBN: 978-0618754458. Read the Blurb.

A gripping account of the author's experience and evolving insight into her severe, rapid-cycling type I bipolar disorder.

An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness - Kay Redfield Jamison
Paperback, Vintage, 1997, 240 pages. ISBN: 0679763309. Read the Blurb.

THE autobiography to read of bipolar disorder. Kay Jamison is also a co-author of the definitive medical text: Manic Depressive Illness. A victim of manic depressive illness herself, An Unquiet Mind is her "outing" from the closet of mental illness. Though not a psychiatrist (medical doctor), she is a teaching professor of psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. I've heard some psychiatrists call her their "hero." A MUST read.

Daughter of the Queen of Sheeba - Jacki Lyden
Paperback, Penguin, 1998, 257 pages. ISBN: 014027684X.

National Public Radio reporter Jacki Lyden's autobiography is, of course, the story of Jacki's life. However, as the title suggests, her mother having bipolar disorder from the time she was a tot had a great impact on her life. (Interesting side note that the title of the book on the jacket has the first word "of" below cutting into an underlining, and the second word "of" above the underling.) Because Sharon Wohlmuth said exactly what I feel about the book in her review, I'm passing along a quote: "She shares the detritus of her mother's madness with the clarity of a journalist and the compassion of a loving and devoted daughter." It's also a book with an uplifting ending, but I'm not revealing that here.

A Beautiful Mind: The Life of Mathematical Genius and Nobel Laureate John Nash - Sylvia Nasar
Paperback, Simon & Schuster, 2001, 464 pages. ISBN: 0743224574.

The book is better than the movie in that it is able to explore Nash's relationships more in depth. I found parts difficult to get through, however, particularly the discussions of Nash's early brilliance with game theory. I don't think the biographer really understood the concepts quite as well as she thought she did, and her elucidation of his theories came across as a little muddled. Well worth the read, though.

Imagining Robert: My Brother, Madness and Survival - Jay Neugeboren
Paperback, Rutgers University Press, 2003, 313 pages. ISBN: 0813532965. Read the Blurb.

Life of a mentally ill Robert from a brother's perspective, this book details the trials of dealing with mental illness in the family from a personal point of view. The author was actually left to deal with his brother pretty much on his own when the parents up and moved to Florida, leaving Robert in the State mental health system in New York while his brother, Jay, became a professor of English at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. I attended a book reading of "Imagining Robert" in 1996, and, most recently, Jay was a guest lecturer at the college where I work and presented, in collaboration with a producer whose name escapes me now, a film documentary of the book, featuring... Robert! Robert has been variously diagnosed as schizophrenic, bipolar, and bipolar with schizo-affective, but the diagnosis doesn't really make much difference in this story; it's a moving, personal account of mental illness.

Skywriting: A Life Out of the Blue - Jane Pauley
Hardback, Random House, 2004, 288 pages. ISBN: 140006192X.

Notable simply because Jane Pauley, former co-host of America's "Today" show and former correspondent on "Dateline," would ordinarily be one of the last people one would suspect of having bipolar disorder. Jane is generally not perceived to be the usual tenacious, hard-hitting reporter which one ordinarily identifies with having that type of job, or holding those types of positions. Rather, she seems much more like "the girl next door." It was, therefore, a headlining news story that she had been diagnosed and spent time hospitalized, for bipolar disorder. Jane's type of bipolar, (medication induced Bipolar III), was diagnosed after she was prescribed steroids for a bout of hives. Jane's discussion of bipolar disorder is, like Jane herself, rather understated. There seems little of the drama and chaos that ordinarily accompanies and surrounds this condition in her life. Well written and good "biography" reading, and good for getting a more well-rounded picture of who may have the disorder, but lacking in imparting substantive understanding of the disorder itself.

The Quiet Room: A Journey Out of the Torment of Madness - Lori Schiller with Amanda Bennett
Paperback, Warner Books, 1996, 288 pages. ISBN: 0446671339. Read the Blurb.

Lori Schiller was a "has it all" kind of American girl, until in the summer before her senior year in high school she began to hear voices. Told in her words, as well as in the words of her mother, father, brother, roommate and psychiatrist, this is a powerful and moving recitation of a person's plunge into schizophrenia and eventually (very eventually... she spent years hospitalized) her emergence back to the functional "real" world. For anyone who desires to get as close as possible to understanding mental illness from the "inside out" without actually making the trip.

Is There No Place on Earth for Me? - Susan Sheehan
Paperback, Vintage, 1983, 352 pages. ISBN: 0394713788.

The biography of a woman, "Sylvia Frumkin," diagnosed with schizophrenia. It has probably has been about seven years since I read this, and if memory serves me right my daughter actually recommended it to me from one of her psych classes. Skimming it anew, it is well written and elucidates schizophrenia from a journalist's perspective, but is more concerned with mental illness from a "social problem" point of view than from a personal one.

Detour: My Bipolar Road Trip in 4 D - Lizzie Simon
Paperback, Washington Square Press, 2003, 224 pages. ISBN: 0743446607.

Lizzie Simon, diagnosed with bipolar disorder, leaves a very successful job as the producer of a radio show in New York city, and sets out cross-crounty to find her "herd": other people who have been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and are leading successful lives. She does find some people to interview, but the book is more about following her journey, I think, than it is about any actual people she finds. I found it pretty uneven in places, but bipolar disorder itself is, after all, an "uneven" affliction, and the greatest value of the book is that it gives insight into bipolar disorder from the perspective of one who "owns" it. It's an excellent read as well for persons with bipolar disorder themselves. (I've actually offered to PAY my daughter to read it.)

His Bright Light: the Story of Nick Traiana - Danielle Steel
Paperback, Delta, 2000, 336 pages. ISBN: 0385334672.

The popular author, Danielle Steele, details the struggles of her son, Nick Traiana, with bipolar disorder and his ultimate suicide. Written from a mother's perspective, I was singularly unimpressed with this book, as I found it difficult to understand why any mom would actually encourage and support a mentally ill child's ambition to become, of all things, a rock star. The answer was not forthcoming in the book, and although I have much sympathy for Ms. Steele and the heartbreak she experienced upon the death of her son, I don't believe this book is likely to increase one's knowledge of bipolar disorder, nor be in any way instructive in how one may cope.

I Am Not Sick, I Don't Need Help! Helping the Seriously Mentally Ill Accept Treatment - Xavier Amador with Anna-Lisa Johanson A BPSO Review here!
Paperback, Vida Press, 2000, 240 pages. ISBN: 0967718902.

Xavier Amador has a mentally ill brother, the catalyst for what fueled his research into "denial." Anna-Lisa Johanson also has a personal interest: her mother was the notorious mentally ill person who was stalking David Letterman, and ended her own life by throwing herself in front of train. This book is for people dealing with the frustration of mentally ill people who just obstinately seems to "refuse" to understand themselves as ill, explains the "why" that might be so, and gives some excellent advice on how to combate it. Mostly written for families and loved ones of "swinging door" hospital patients, it nevertheless, I think, could be very useful for dealing with any loved one with a mental illness. There's also included (at no extra charge!) a summary, state by state, of U.S. commitment law standards for civil commitment, a.k.a., assisted treatment. If you're commited (pun intended) to helping your "in denial" loved one, I highly recommend this book. Buy it. Read it. Twice.

The Broken Brain - The Biological Revolution in Psychiatry - Nancy C. Andreasen
Paperback, Perennial, 1985, 288 pages. ISBN: 0060912723.

The claim on the book front is that "[The] book will be especially valuable to anyone who knows someone afflicted with a mental illness." I didn't find this necessarily true. The case studies presented were interesting and readable, but much of the book deals with ganglia, synapses, neurotransmitters, and brain structures. For a person who is highly technically oriented, this would be a good read. For one who is less than so, forget it.

You Mean I Don't Have to Feel This Way?: New Help for Depression, Anxiety and Addiction - Colette Dowling
Paperback, Bantam, 1993, 320 pages. ISBN: 055337169X. Read the Blurb.

I originally bought this book for my daughter and ended up reading it myself. In it Dowling explores a smorgasboard of mood ailments, from PMS and eating disorders to anxiety and the major mental illnesses of bipolar and depression. She does so on a "biologic brain" model, and intersperses case studies. It's no longer "new," of course, having first been published in 1991, so it doesn't contain information about many of the newer drugs used to bring some of these afflictions under control, but was a ground-breaking book at the the time. Nevertheless, a good read on general knowledge grounds.

Moodswing - Ronald R. Fieve
Paperback, Bantam, 1982 ISBN: 0553266128.

The first book on mental illness which was recommended to me by my (former... only becuase I'm taking some time off) therapist, this Fieve book is interesting because it's billed as "Dr. Fieve on Depression" and "The eminent psychiatrist who pioneered the use of lithium in America Reveals a revolutionary new way to prevent depression," but is clearly a softer-peddle treatment of bipolar disorder. Maybe the cover was written up that way because more people seek help for depression, or maybe because depression is more readily accepted by the general public as "not a mental illness" (though it clearly is), but either way, though it's soft-peddle on the outside, it's filled with good insight and is also an easy read.

Night Falls Fast: Understanding Suicide - Kay Redfield Jamison
Paperback, Vintage, 2000, 448 pages. ISBN: 0375701478. Read the Blurb.

Kay Jamison's latest book is devoted exclusively to suicide, and she knows the topic from a personal as well as professional stance. Quoting the St. Louis Post Dispatch: "Jamison writes with authority, clarity and clinical reserve. When she takes herself into territory where explanations are shadows and tragedy prevails, she takes hold of the pen of a poet. Powerful as her medicine is, her poetic accounting of this dark death is more affecting still." For anyone whose loved one has attempted or completed suicide.

Touched with Fire: Manic Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperament - Kay Redfield Jamison
Paperback, Free Press, 1996, 384 pages. ISBN: 068483183X. Read the Blurb.

Another by Jamison, though this one, written prior to An Unquiet Mind explores the relationship between, as it says, bipolar disorder and what she calls the "artistic temperament." Though exceptionally well written, this one is pretty dry, and academically oriented, written more for a psychology class than general reading.

Shadow Syndromes: The Mild Forms of Major Mental Disorders That Sabotage Us - John J. Ratey, M.D. and Catherine Johnson, Ph.D.
Paperback, Bantam Books, 1998, 400 pages. ISBN: 0553379593.

According to the authors, major mental illnesses such as depression, bipolar disorder, attention deficit disorder, autism, and others, exist on a continuum from very mild to extreme. Though the extreme forms of these illnesses are generally easy to identify and diagnose, there are, according to the authors, lesser degrees of these disorders which may affect personality and have a major impact on lives. The thrust of this book is to identify and explain, on a biologically based model, these "shadow" syndromes. It does a good job of that. More importantly, however, it gives insight into how these illnesses both on the extreme and the lesser levels may operate, for the principals of the mechanisms of "what's going on" would be the same, regardless of the degree of the disorder.

A Mood Apart: Depression, Mania, and Other Afflictions of the Self - Peter C. Whybrow, M.D.
Paperback, Perennial, 1998, 384 pages. ISBN: 006097740X. Read the Blurb.

One of the most impressive books on the topic I've read, Whybrow, through case studies, explores both mania and depression, as well as the "lesser" forms of bipolar disorder such as cyclothymia and dysthymia. There's a good deal of "technical" talk in the book as well, but Whybrow makes the technicals both readily understandable and easy to read. His prose and thorough treatment of the topic has been called graceful by more than one reviewer. Frank Bergmann, President of the National Depressive and Manic-Dpressive Association calls it "... a masterpiece... His topic is complex, his explanation scientific and yet deeply rooted in compassion, understanding, prception, and respect for his patients." I agree, wholeheartedly, with Mr. Bergmann.

Codependent No More! How to Stop Controlling Others and Start Caring for Yourself - Melody Beattie
Paperback, Hazelden Information Education, 1997 ISBN: 0894864025.

A very good friend of mine swears by this book. I read it, didn't think I got a lot out of it, but immediately thereafter, noticed a change in some of my attitudes. Somehow, even though I don't consider myself very codependent by nature, some of it apparently sank in and rubbed off. I recommend it for anyone who even thinks they might be a teensy co-dependent some times.

Your Eroneous Zones, Pulling Your Own Strings, The Sky's the Limit - Dr. Wayne Dyer

I read all of these Dyer books back in the late 70's or early 80's. Dyer doesn't so much tell one "how to be," rather, he opens up possibilities for one to direct their own life. Though the books are a little old, I nevertheless recommend them if a copy can be had. They had an impact on my life I can't describe.