Customer Reviews

Bipolar Disorder Demystified: Mastering the Tightrope of Manic Depression

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Lana Castle does an excellent job in writing a broad survey of help available for those with bipolar disorder. Although she herself gets most help from medication, she also advocates exercise, self-help groups, and herbs. Her personal insights from living with her mood changes were refreshing. She even dives into the biochemistry of moods and of why good nutrition can help. Her medication table in the appendix allows one to track the many types of medication.
Living a lifetime as a bipolar myself, I can testify that many of her methods work. Everyone affected by this condition should read this book and refer to it over and over.

I couldn't disagree more with the previous review - I found this book to be an incredibly useful reference. Yes, it covered a lot that I already knew - but I found much that was new to me. Too, it summarized information that I'd have to go a number of places to find otherwise, so I could unhesitatingly recommend it to my family to help them understand my disorder better.

I found much of the nutirtional information useful, and Lana Castle's advice for managing your life with Bipolar Disorder was presented in realistic, unpreachy ways, unlike other authors who seem to expect us to live our lives like Martha Stewarts of BP - doable only if you have no children or have a staff.

If I purchased only one book about bipolar disorder, it would be this one.

For anyone dealing with the devastation of mental illness, this comprehensive book puts the pieces of the puzzle together. It helped me understand what my own bipolar children have been going through for many years and has given me a compassion that was sorely lacking. Thank you for having the courage to share your story and for all the information, guidance, and resources you provide.

Bipolar Disorder Demystified is the third book I've read on the subject of Bipolar Disorder. It's an easily read book covering everything from depression to hypomania, medication to the importance of vitamin consumption. The information in this book is expansive almost to the point of unnecessary. The chapter on Biochemistry and Genetics was informative. The chapter on Personality and the "Quadrants" of Perfectionism was senseless.

Lana Castle's attempt at intertwining her personal experience with scientific knowledge was charming in the beginning of the book, but trite towards the end when she tells of joining a Quaker church only to leave due to a persistent suitor, or the excerpts of her journal which read like the rantings of a lunatic.

From what I've read, I'm guessing that Castle is a little flaky. I'm glad that she's been able to find the stability she needs in Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, but it's mentioned more often that the importance of psychotherapy and medication compliance. The chapter on Exploring Nonmedical Options began with substance, but ended disappointingly with the mention of using massage and aromatherapy as viable options for this disorder. She suggest communing with nature to relieve stress, but then recommends tasting "the sweat that pours from your face after an aerobic workout", for reasons unknown.

The chapter on Creativity is extremely self-absorbed. Once again, it begins with good intentions, but disappointingly segues into a timeline of Castle's attempts at creativity and pretty much reads like a resume of her creative endeavors or like a child screaming "Daddy, look at me! Look at me!"

Overall, Bipolar Disorder Demystified isn't a terrible book. It's full of a variety of important information on dealing with this disorder and the destruction it can cause. The unevenness in joining her personal encounters and scientific or substantial information (for lack of a better word) is not entirely the fault of Lana Castle. The blame should be placed on the editor for not reining in her clearly self-absorb writing style. (She figuratively thumbs her nose at a former psychiatrist for shooting down her ambitions for being a writer! See pages 301-302).

If you roll your eyes when you see a hippie, or laugh at the though of using penny-royale to cure a flu, then this book is not for you. If you are a hippie and have yerba mate in your refrigerator you'll find this book right up your alley. I consider myself ¼ hippie and found this book useful at times, disappointing but not entirely without merit. If you can stomach the ego of Castle, then read this book. When she's not too busy staring at her reflection in the mirror Castle can be a solid writer.

This book was well written and EXTREMELY informative. Although I was a little disappointed at the author's constant need for medication as part of a solution, I understand that this recovery route was part of her personal story. This story, intertwined with great facts, was probably the perfect combination of humanity and science that made the over 400 page book incredibly easy to get through.

I am not a "reader", but would recommend this book to anyone who wants to know more about not only bipolar disorder, but other brain disorders as well.

I enjoyed this book quite a bit. It reminded me of Patty Duke's "A Brilliant Madness" in that it was partly about the author's own struggle with bipolar disorder and partly about information on the disease. It was pretty well written, well organized, and easy to follow. As I like to gain information on this complex subject from a variety of sources, this book is a worthy addition to any small library of books on bipolar disorder. I also suggest books by Miklowitz, Torrey, and Jamison. Avery Z. Conner, author of "Fevers of the Mind".

I have manic depression and can really relate to Lana's very open description of her sexual "wildness" before her medications were working properly in her body. Lana's ability to describe everything that I have read in her book has given me the courage to discuss my intermost feelings with my therapist and maybe someday with others. Your book is a true asset to the field of manic depression Lana. Hats off to you for doing such a great job!!

This is the perfect book, for family, friends and caregivers who are struggling to understand and support someone with bipolar disorder. It sets down the day to day expectations and mysteries which confound those who move in and out of the lives of an individual over a long period of time. It also puts into words the realities of this illness which non professionals can understand. I found it most informative and a great guidebook.

It's stunning to see that this book has earned a 4.5-star rating from readers, given the fact that only the first paragraph under each header has anything to do with BPD generally: the rest is all about how the author had sex with her car's stick shift (!), smoked pot or whatever else is related, if only tangentially, to the subject at hand. This makes for a very tedious read, as it appears she has done little, if any, research beyond a mostly regurgitated recollection of what she learned in her therapy sessions.

This is one embarrassingly creepy book. No, I didn't get past the third chapter--who wants to?

There are better books out there.

Although I have not completed this book in full yet what I have read has been informative and accurate. I appreciate how the author describes Bipolar illness and her personal experience with it. It is good that she explains that her experience is just that and that everyone is different. What she experiences and what helps her may or may not help someone else. A lot of accurate and extremely useful up-to-date information. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for information through a personal point of view, which is just as if not more important than an outsider's view.