Customer Reviews

Manic-Depressive Illness: Bipolar Disorders and Recurrent Depression, 2nd Edition

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

...disorder, then buy this one. For yourself, to help you understand yourself and to understand your psychiatrist too. And then buy Jamison's autobiography, "An unquiet mind", to lend to family and friends to help them understand as best as any "normal" person can. Comprehensive and technical. But entirely readable, this is THE textbook on the subject and although Jamison was not "out" as one of us at the time she wrote, it still shows! It was frightening in some ways to read this for the first time some years ago, realising just how accurately she and her co-author described my experiences, yet at the same time reassuring that here was someone who really had a grip on this disease. No book gets 5 star reviews from 8 people (so far) without good reason.

Having been diagnosed with Bipolar II four years ago, I searched and researched the Internet and bookstores for anything I could find on Manic-Depressive illness. It was by pure chance that I stumbled on this book.

Some years ago, I was a nursing student and psychiatric nursing seemed to be my speciality, since I had some innate ability to understand the mind. And, ever the nursing student, I continued long after nursing school to learning more about psychiatric illness, especially once I was diagnosed with it.

The book is technical in content, but easy for the layperson to understand, providing they have a good dictionary. Being a nursing student, much of the language comes easy for me, but the layperson can grasp a good understanding of the illness. Their references to Kraepelin were especially important since he was the first to recognized the two poles of the illness.

I would recommend this book to any person diagnosed with Bipolar and their families, to help understand their illness and to know they are not alone.

This is THE classic text about manic-depressive illness. However, I would not recommend buying it, as it is 10 years old and much has happened in our understanding of the illness in the past decade. Save money; borrow it from the library.

Instead, I recommend Dr. Francis Mondimore's "Bipolar Disorder: A Guide for Patients and Families", which is up-to-date, thorough, full of practical advice, and written for laypeople; and any of Kay Redfield Jamison's books, especially "An Unquiet Mind."

I have bipolar II and both family members and I have found Dr. Mondimore's book to be VERY helpful.

I was diagnosed with Bipolar I back in 1992, when I was 29 and have researched the illness seriously since 1998 when I was a Sophomore in college as a Psychology major. Like Dr. Jamison, I plan on becoming a Clinical Psychologist and an expert in the area. The book was an excellent reference about the illness and I recommend it to anyone with one drawback. It only advocates the old views regarding treatment, primarily only Lithium and a mentioning of Depakote and Tegretal. Dr. Jamison also only advocates Lithium in all of her other books. For 6 years, the Dr.'s that treated me did the same along with adding Depakote combination. I'm allergic to Tegretal. I took my medication faithfully during this time and lived in a state of constant manic mode. It was with the courage of a new Dr. that realized that I am traditional treatment resistant and prescribed Lamictal in Jan. 98 and that is when my life went from the gutter to receiving my BA in Psychology in Jun. 2000. The number of patients with Refractory Bipolar, or in my case, just resistant are mounting and attention need to brought to the foreground of the newer anticonvulsives effectiveness: Lamictal, Neurontin, and Topomax. I lived in total dispair for 6 yrs. and as a future Practioner, I will make sure that a patient of mine never has to suffer the way I did. Someday in the future with the coordination from Psychiatry, I hope to write a book on newer, better, and safer medications for treatment practices. I thank Dr.'s Goodwin and Jamison for their work for advocating information on the illness, yet it is a disadvantage in the way of treatment.

This book is everything you need to know about manic-depressive illness that your doctor doesn't have time to tell you. Dr. Kay Redfield Jamison has a passion for the subject and the knowledge to back it up.

As and individual afflicted with manic-depressive illness, I have read almost every book Jamison and others have published on Manic-Depressive Illness and can honestly say that if it has her name as author, it is an excellent resource on manic-depressive illness. She is thorough and concise yet easy to understand.

This book has it all. Everything you want to know, technically, about manic-depressive illness is in this book. For a personal account, "An Unquiet Mind" is a must, also written by Dr. Kay Jamison Redfield. She is an expert on the topic personally and professionally. What a wonderfully sensative combination.

Thanks again Kay!

This is an invaluable resource for anyone with Bipolar Disorder (Manic-Depressive Illness) or anyone who loves them. Though targeted at medical professionals, most of the information presented is well within the grasp of an intelligent and motivated layperson. I'm not a doctor of any sort, but I *do* have Bipolar Disorder, and take an active interest and role in my own health-care... this is a terrific book, and it summarizes what is known about the causes, treatment, and management of this disorder as of about 1990. (Hopefully, there will be an update soon!)

This is a clinical, scholarly, encyclopedic review of all aspects of manic depressive disorder (MD). It is coauthored by famed author, MD sufferer, and psychiatrist Kay Redfied Jamison, more widely known for her "An Unquiet Mind" and "Touched with Fire: Manic-Depressive Illness and the Artistic Sentiment".

As a MD sufferer I found information of great intrest to me: genetics of MD, recidivism rates, age of onset, and other information not readily found elsewhere. Not every person with MD will want to research the clinical aspects of their own illness, but if you do this is one of the few places to find indepth information on MD.

This month's long-awaited second edition recently hit the streets, and is well worth the wait. At more than 1,200 pages and with an impressive list of collaborators shedding light on all manner of matters melancholic and manic, the book represents a virtual Manhattan Project on mood disorders.

With our recovery riding on being as smart, if not smarter, than our treating professionals, it pays for patients to read what their clinicians are reading, especially a work of this magnitude. Don't let clinician-speak intimidate you. The authors went to great lengths to organize their subject matter into a meaningful and comprehensive whole, with clear transitions from one topic to the next. A few pages into the text, and one quickly becomes habituated to the polysyllables. Then it's clear sailing.

At $99, sales resistance is understandable. My two cents: You cannot afford NOT to have this book. Each day you struggle with this illness costs you money, already. The cost-benefit is a no-brainer. Stop paying your cable bill, if you have to, and make what could prove to be the best investment of your life.

This book is excellent, humane, insightful and scholarly. It is still the standard work but we desperately want the next edition. More on children and adolescents, alcohol and drug abuse, treatment resistance and co-morbidity.

Goodwin and Jamison go far beyond any other authors in compiling information regarding manic depressive illness. From etiology, treatment, genetics, psychosocial factors and case studies, Manic Depressive Illness is a resource that every clinician treating bipolar disorder must have.I am in great anticipation of the 2nd edition!