When bipolar disorder afflicts the person you love, you suffer too. How have other couples learned to manage the relationship strains caused by this illness? What can you do to provide your partner with truly helpful nurturance and support? No one cares more deeply about these questions than Dr. Cynthia Last, a highly regarded therapist/researcher who also has bipolar disorder. Sharing stories and solutions from her own experience and the couples she has treated, Dr. Last offers heartfelt, practical guidance for getting through the out-of-control highs and the devastating lows--together. Learn how you can help your spouse come to terms with a bipolar diagnosis, get the most out of treatment, and reduce or prevent future mood episodes, while also taking care of yourself.

Maintaining a relationship is hard enough without the added challenges of your partner’s bipolar disorder symptoms. Loving Someone with Bipolar Disorder offers information and step-by-step advice for helping your partner manage mood swings and impulsive actions, allowing you to finally focus on enjoying your relationship while also taking time for yourself. This book explains the symptoms of your partner’s disorder and offers strategies for preventing them and responding to these symptoms when they do occur. This updated edition includes a new section about the medications your partner may be taking so that you can understand the side effects and help monitor his or her bipolar treatment. As a supportive partner, you deserve support yourself. This book will help you create a more balanced, fulfilling relationship. Improve your relationship by learning how to: • Identify your partner’s symptom triggers so you can prevent episodes • Improve communication by stopping irrational “bipolar conversations” • Handle your partner’s emotional ups and downs • Foster closeness and connection with your partner

Bipolar is a condition that affects peoples' relationships with others as much as it affects their own mental state. When one person in a couple is experiencing the extreme highs and lows of a disorder like this one, it's impossible for their partner not to feel the strain too. Reassuring yet realistic, Dr. Bloch, Dr. Golden, and Nancy Rosenfeld explain what's normal, what's not, what might change, and what definitely won't. They provide information and advice on typical troubling relationship topics, such as: Communication Trust and loyalty Family planning Finances Sex Maintaining a sense of self By understanding the reality of bipolar and what it means for a relationship, couples will relate to each other better today and plan for a successful future together tomorrow.

Revised and updated, Take Charge of Bipolar Disorder is a groundbreaking, comprehensive program to help those with bipolar disorder—and those who care about them—gain permanent control over their lives. Most people diagnosed with bipolar disorder are sent home with the name of a doctor and multiple prescriptions. However, few people with bipolar disorder are able to find long-term stability with medications alone. Bipolar disorder researcher and expert Julie A. Fast, who was diagnosed with the illness at age thirty-one, and specialist John Preston, PsyD, offer the pioneering Take Charge program used around the world to help readers promote stability, reduce mood swings, increase work ability, decrease health care costs, and improve relationships. The book guides those with bipolar disorder and their loved ones toward a comprehensive personal treatment plan by incorporating: Medications and bipolar-safe supplements Lifestyle changes that help manage bipolar symptoms naturally Behavior modifications that reduce and prevent symptoms Guidelines on assembling an effective support team By helping readers gather powerful strategies, Take Charge of Bipolar Disorder delivers a dynamic program to treat this difficult but ultimately manageable illness.

This indispensable book about love and mental health addresses the short-term, daily problems of living with a person with mental illness, as well as long-term planning and care. Of special note are the forty-three “Quick Reference Guides” about such topics as: responding to hallucinations, delusions, violence and anger; helping your loved one comply with treatment plans and medication; deciding if the person should live at home or in a facility; choosing a doctor and dealing with mental health professionals; handling the holidays and family activities; managing stress; helping siblings and adult children with their special concerns. “Ms. Woolis produced a handbook which is both practical and accessible, eminently useful for all of us who have a family member with a serious mental illness.” –E. Fuller Torrey, M.D., author of Surviving Schizophrenia “Rebecca Woolis presents easy-to-follow practical guidelines for coping with the multitude of problems that regularly confront families. In minutes the reader can find helpful suggestions for dealing with any problem that might arise.” –Christopher S. Amenson, Ph.D., Director, Pacific Clinics East

"Following on the success of Managing Your Depression, Susan Noonan's new book is for family members and friends of people with depression or bipolar disorder. A certified peer specialist at McLean Hospital (a comprehensive psychiatric hospital affiliated with Harvard University), Susan draws on her experiences providing support and education for those living with or caring for a person who has a mood disorder. A family member who has a mood disorder affects the entire family. Further, family members and close friends are often the first to recognize the subtle changes and symptoms of depression--and they are also the people who provide daily support to their loved ones, often at great personal price. Caring for someone with a mood disorder differs from caring for someone with a physical medical disorder, in ways that complicate the caregiving role. A concise and practical guide to the daily management of depression and bipolar depression written for the caregiver, the book explains how to reinforce lessons the patient has been taught in therapy, how to role model resilience skills, and how caregivers can and must care for themselves. It describes effective communication strategies and advises how to find appropriate professional help. Its many tables and worksheets convey much needed information in an accessible way. References, Resources, and a Glossary complete the package. Overall the book helps readers navigate the depression or bipolar disorder of someone close to them, providing readers with words to say and things to do as they try to help someone change the course of a sometimes confounding and often disabling illness"--

On the last day of winter in 2005, John committed suicide in his car on a lonely side road of the Blue Mountains to the west of Sydney, Australia. He was six months shy of his thirtieth birthday. It was the culmination of nine years of struggle for John and his wife, as he battled undiagnosed mental illness, a gambling addiction, and an earlier suicide attempt. Despite his wife's love and attempts to understand his condition, in the end nothing could save John from his demons. Tragically, John’s story could be anybody's story. In Australia, around 2,100 people commit suicide every year; up to 12% of people affected by mental illness take their own lives (compared with an average of 1.7% for the whole population), and suicide is the main cause of premature death among people with mental illness. But the effects of suicide are even more far-reaching. Its impact on those left behind is frequently devastating and lifelong. The author knows this first-hand. Marrying Bipolar is the account of a wife’s struggle to understand the events in her husband’s life that would eventually lead to their marriage breakdown and his untimely death. Natasha’s experience watching her husband struggle with the complexity of mental illness, has led her understand the deadly role denial has to play, for both sufferer and partners. In the process, the author addresses her own search of ways to address denial of the darkness that resides in all of us, and the compassion needed to heal and rebuild lives after enduring.