Customer Reviews

The Bipolar Advantage

5 star:		(37)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

Having enjoyed the "bipolar advantage" for more than 25 years now, I'm always looking for a positive slant on this nasty, destructive, incurable condition. Unfortunately, it is not to be found in this worthless book.

I've read a lot of self-help over the years, and this is the worst yet. Tom Wootton seems to have a very idiosyncratic form of manic-depression, to use the older, less euphemistic term. Apart from anything else, he seems to think you can use the "advantages" of mania - accelerated thoughts, boundless energy, wild imagination - by switching it on and off like electricity. Anyone who is really living with it will know it doesn't work like that.

For instance, he says mania will make you a great brainstormer. Possibly, but only if you happen to be brainstorming in the brief moment between the sudden onset of all that energy and the arrival of a man in a white coat with a syringe full of something to knock you out.

I suspect that what Wootton really suffers from is rampant egomania. At one point, he tells us he is so good at sex - and he's very interested in sex - that he can render his lovers (victims?) unconscious. Then there is his fascinating resum?: "prostitute, drug dealer, factory worker, traveling waiter, health club manager, corporate vice president, male stripper, truck driver, monk, teacher, public speaker, trade show hawker, car salesman, body builder, computer programmer, realtor, creative director, tech guru, porn star, this list goes on and on".

And so does he...

Those of us whose aspirations run more towards a normal career and a happy family life would do better to look elsewhere for guidance. The only thing I agreed with in 195 pages of drivel is the value of meditation, and his account of it is so sketchy and bizarre as to be seriously misleading.

At the end, he tells us that he wrote most of the book in six days. I'm surprised it took him so long.

On a more positive note, the best book I have read on the subject is Overcoming Mood Swings by Jan Scott. It's a self-help book based on cognitive behavioural therapy, and it will help you manage your condition rather than engaging in fruitless and extravagant fantasising about it.

While this book does offer some unique insight into the galaxy of activities and emotions of bipolar people such as myself, it seemed more of a rough outline than a fully fleshed approach to coping with this spasmodic condition of the mind. The author does offer his own life as a revelation to both those diagnosed with, living with, and wondering about this condition. He begins to offer real glimmers of information about how creativity, sex, drugs, verbal abuse, and work are entertwined with bipolar behaviors and lifestyles; the importance of learning coping skills, adapting a healthy weight and exercise program, and getting and listening to a psychiatrist, doing your own research and asking questions about medications, and finding a counselor you can trust and be honest with. Wootton talks about the importance of finding a spiritual path, meditation, setting goals and prioritizing, and gives very helpful, specific activities and descriptions of what all of these suggestions feel like when they're working for you. I've read a lot of books on bipolar "disorder" written by doctors, researchers, other bipolars, and laypeople, and this is one of the most directly useful articulations of how this feels, what it looks like, and what can be accomplished with self awareness, education, introspection, and a non-judgemental attitude towards oneself and others. I would give a higher rating, but just felt the book was too superficial in too many places - I wanted Mr. Wootton to stop skimming over information because it really verges on being spectacular. There is a lot more that could have been said, for example, to explain creativity, passion vs. skill, and how to see to it that our infinite ideas materialize. This is one of the crucial dilemmas of my life. I felt really excited when I read many portions of this book as it was the first time I knew that someone was onto the same threads of thought I have been on and had actually been able to coalesce these thoughts into action. He could have written a book on almost every chapter heading! The point, I suppose, is that he was able to write this book at all, write well, and offer so much of himself to scrutiny.

I wanted to like this book, ordering it because it had many good reviews. It seemed Tom was manic most of the time in the book and was blessed with taking only lithium. Unfortunately, there are many bipolars who have depression as their dominant mood and have to take 3 psychotropic drugs.If this were Tom's experience, he would have more realistic view of the disease and his advise would be more useful to me.
He is not expert about the disorder and along with spotty research, the book is mainly his ego trip.
I read some and skimmed some but became bored with the book- mostly because I was weary of his bragging and ranting . Save your money and read the intelligent books by Kate Jamison- a bipolar who knows how to write well.

This is the worst book I've ever read. So bad it inspired me to write my first review. I have bipolar I, and I do believe it has it's advantages. But that does not save this book.

This book is a poorly organized autobiography of a man with extreme delusions of grandeur. Perhaps he isn't bipolar at all, just an extreme narcissist with depression, anger issues and LSD flashbacks. The only reason I continued reading is because I could relate to the guy... But I really don't want to.

It begins with an introduction on how great the author is. Then there is a couple chapters explaining bipolar disorder in the same way a 5 page introduction pamphlet on the topic would. Then there's 8 chapters on how awesome the author is. Throw in a few basic chapters about meditation, diet and exercise (Tom used to be a stripper so he knows everything there is to know about diet and exercise) that are not even on topic... He even admits that meditation is a actually a disadvantage to bipolar people, but since it's something he knows a little about (being an enlightened monk and all) it deserves it's own chapter in his autobiography (this book). Wrap it up with a few chapters on how great the author is and how amazing he is for writing this horrible joke book in 6 days. End with a chapter thanking himself, and you have this book.

Essentially the only bipolar advantage he mentions is creativity and it's forms. Let's get a show of hands of who needs to read this book to find out that bipolar people are blessed with creativity. He doesn't even follow this basic assessment with factual examples like Kay Redfeild Jamison does, and he isn't a quarter of her genius, even though he spends an entire book trying to prove he is. She wrote an autobiography and hardly even mentions her amazing brain even though she has a doctorate to back it up!

Instead of empowering me, this book made me fear my illness. I don't want to be anything like this lunatic, but I'm afraid I am.

I dare anyone that gave this book 5 stars to re-read it a couple times. It's so arrogantly awkward it overwhelmed ME with an uncomfortable feeling of embarrassment towards the author for the entire 4 hours I spent learning how incredibly great he is!

This book not only explains what it means to have bipolar disorder, it shows positive ways of dealing with it. Whether you HAVE bipolar disorder, or simply love someone with it, this book is a must read. My family and I read parts of the book outloud so we could share some of the information provided and how to help deal with the symptoms and the disorder itself. Remember, Tom, you are a person who has bipolar disorder. You are not bipolar. You have it. It does not have you. Thank you so much for sharing part of your life with us. You truly understand our plight and are dealing with it well. You book has been a godsend. Linda

This book is self-published by a man who suffers from bipolar disorder. He has led a tumultuous life, about which he goes into great detail. He has conducted seminars for those with bipolar disorder encouraging people to consider the benefits of bipolar disorder. For these reasons, I anticipated the book to be helpful.

I was greatly disappointed. While the author has a wealth of experience from which to draw, he has little clinical knowledge of the effects bipolar can have on different people, drawing only from his own limited experience. His writing style is scattered and hard to follow. Reading one paragraph, I wasn't sure if his point was that thoughts come to him at odd times, or perhaps that he has creative thoughts because of his bipolar, or even if it is impersonal to use a washcloth in the shower. All three of those topics were covered in a space of a few short sentences.

This man may or may not give helpful seminars. I have never been to one, so I cannot speak on that. His writing style, however, is not organized, focued, or educated on the topic enough to be helpful.

I do not recommend this book for anyone as it appears to be of little informational value.

I recommend this book not just for people who are bipolar, but also for those who love them. Being the spouse of a bipolar, I have had to reach into the depths of my soul to try and understand this condition - for his sake and mine. Watching my husband plunge into depression and suicidal thoughts, not leaving the bed for months on end has been excrutiating. The mania can be just as devastating and leaves me feeling just as helpless. This book has not only given me realistic insight into what my husband experiences in his depressed and manic states, but also offers some excellent exercises that he and I can do together and both benefit from. The author is raw, but also has a great sense of humour, which allowed us to actually see the light within the darkness of this condition. It won't happen overnight, but by utilizing the information in this book I feel my husband and I will learn to manage his condition in the most positive way possible.

My wife and daughter had signed up to attend one of Tom Wootton's workshops so a week before they left I decided to read this book. I had never heard of him before. After reading his book I decided I had better accompany my family. (our 21 year old daughter was diagnosed with Bipolar and Borderline Personality six months earlier) Though unconventional, Wootton's book was the first positive approach to Bipolar we had come across. And the workshop fleshed out what the book introduced. I found Tom Wootton to be a sensitive, intelligent and effective communicator. If those who wrote negative reviews would sit and talk with him for half an hour I believe they would reconsider their criticism. The workshop addressed issues on both sides of the fence and each of us came away with more than we had expected. Wootton's practical steps for controlling Bipolar are equally appropriate for anyone who takes life improvement seriously. I would also recommend three recent articles Wootton has written. They can be found on www.bipolarinorder.org/index.html.

Keeping your head in the sand seems to be how most treat, discuss, understand and live with Bipolar. At least that is what Kelly the previous reviewer is suggesting by not allowing her children to read a book that might help them tremendously, sure it is shocking to some, to a young adult, oh please! Take a look at their video games, filled with violence and gratuitious sex! Not to mention thier talks with friends, movies they watch, or chats online. Unless you have put a "Parental lock" on the rest of their abilities to learn what really is the real world... "At least Tom puts his REAL expierences into a format that IS related by those with bipolar disease, we have all been there and done very much the same in our own way right along side of him. Though mostly in shame or fear of truly opening up to someone we know or trust in, for fear of abandonment, shame and that they just wouldn't understand. Yet it still happened and it still will without help and insight like Tom has provided us. I applaud Tom Wootton for giving me a book to which I can hand to a partner, spouse, friend or family member and say to them "Do you really want to know what it is like to have bipolar?, if so then read this book and come back to me to discuss what Hell I have been going thru in my lifetime too" Hoping it will simply go away or a magic pill can be taken to be a cure all. Well, that simply isn't the case or true! IT takes someone like Tom Wootton to pull your head out of the sand and realize that there is no one that can really help you or your behaviours but you, and it is about time that you get to the work of self improvement to begin healing. Medications have thier place and they do help, but it isn't what will give you relief in your own self loathing and continuation down a path that has often enough lead to suicide and a wasted life. Kelly, the the highest rate of Suicide is the young adult who is bipolar and on medications, they have been to enough treatment centers, psychologists, phychiatrists to bankrupt a health coverage plan and yet end up taking their life in the end. Why do you think that is? Perhaps keeping YOUR head in the sand and not being open to every way of understanding and learning your children MAY benifit from is more of a disservice to them as it is your sensitive feelings on your religion. But then again, perhaps it is YOUR depression from keeping this book from your children....

I HIGHLY recommend this book to anyone who is ready to get their head out of the sand and do the tough work described by Tom Wootton to a path of feeling positive about bipolar when all that has been written thus far accentuates the negative!

This is the most ignorant and poorly written book I have ever read. I only got half way through it and had to put it down. It is brimming with self-aggrandizements, repetitious blather and statements so far-fetched and inaccurate that I was laughing out loud. (The human heart beats out of habit?) Well, so much for the autonomic nervous system.

Save your money to buy more lithium.