Title: Living Without Depression & Manic Depression Author: Mary Ellen Copeland, M.S. Third Printing 1996 Published by: New Harbinger Publications, Inc.; Oakland California Retails for: $17.95 (Canada $26.95)

About the Author: Mary Ellen lives in Vermont and has battled her own severe BP condition. She is also the author of "The Depression Workbook: A Guide for Living With Depression," an audio tape, "Living With Depression and Manic Depression," and a video tape, "Coping with Depression."

About the Workbook: This 263-page workbook is designed to help BPs understand their condition and make day-to-day decisions designed to promote mood stability. Each chapter contains many optional exercises and many fine resources. For example, the workbook contains the following:

1. Rights of the hospitalized patient
2. A sample "contract" which allows the patient to designate treatmentoptions for times when the patient can't make decisions on her behalf
3. Ideas on who to tell about the illness and how to explain it
4. How to rule out medical causes for mood disorders (hormonal, central nervous system, allergic conditions, etc.)
5. How to prepare to meet for the first time with the doctor
6. What questions to ask your doctor about medications (NO SPECIFIC medication is offered)
7. A listing of side effects to watch for and report to the Pdoc
8. How to take advantage of lifestyle changes to promote wellness (light therapy, exercise, sleep, hobbies, laughter therapy, pet therapy)
9. Career selection and modification tips
10. Exploring childhood experiences that may need to be addressed in order to maintain wellness (childhood abuse, etc.)
11. What to expect from mental health counselors and how to choose the right one
12. Peer counseling and support group help
13. How to recognize early signs of mania and depression
14. Using a journal to increase chance of maintained wellness
15. How to tune your internal "voice" to say positive things to you
16. How to write a personal plan to avoid depression and mania
17. Daily warning signs chart (perfect to photocopy) for purpose of monitoring warning signs
18. How to use each depression or mania as a learning experience

Rating and Impression: I give this book a whopping 11 eggshells (based on a possible dozen, of course!)

It is excellent for the BP person who is willing to accept his condition (not in total denial) and desires to take action to prevent illness escalation. The workbook probably should be read and utilized when the BP person is fairly stable. If your BP is not very insightful about his condition, the book offers methods for the SO to monitor daily activities, moods, sleep patterns that can serve as an indicator of day-to-day prognosis. For the "experienced" SO, the material may already be ingrained in your brains. However, for the novice like me, the work sheets will prove invaluable tools to share with our PDoc who like the idea of monitoring moods and daily life activities.