Customer Reviews

The Natural Medicine Guide to Bipolar Disorder (The Healthy Mind Guides)

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

 

 

this book has turned my life around. having been diagnosed with bipolar type II in 2002 (age 19), i've spent the past 5 years on various pharmaceuticals, magnificently tempering the depression and mood swings, and my personality. but did i feel i was living? no. i had a strict circadium rhythm from the meds (13 hrs. of sleep a night), and i was an emotional and physical zombie. my intellectual brain stopped functioning, and i had to drop out of college. i didn't regret being on meds, because they did help keep me pseudo-sane and definately alive, but i wanted more for myself. i found this book in a health food store, and figured i'd educate myself on alternatives, not believing anything but meds could truly 'work'. well. this isn't true. every person suffering from a mental disorder needs to know that there are options to getting better, and traditional methods of psychiatric pharmaceuticals are only one of those options. i really wish someone had told me that at the beginning of my diagnosis (and really, at my first onset of depression at age 8).
all the chapters in this book are informative and useful. specifically, chapter five reviews a theraputic clinic outside chicago called Pfeiffer Treatment Center. after reading the review, i applied and became a patient last year, and started their program with immediate sucess (relief within days). it turns out much of my mental instability was due to candidiasis, being toxic with the mineral copper with a deficiency of zinc, and too little of histamine (and thus overmethylation.) i am taking very bio-specific supplements 3x daily to balance the mineral and neuotransmitter issues, and i'm on a copper-free, yeast/sugar-free diet, and i am loosely following the blood type A diet (who ever said life was easy?) the results? mood swings are gone. irritablity is gone. depression is gone. i've a healthy range of moods and emotions, and experience many other *unrelated* benefits as well (effortless weight loss, ocd spectrum disorder gone, increased energy, focus and clarity, improved overall health). and i'm not on any meds. most psychiatrists i've seen would call this sacriledge, even dangerous. i call it a smart application of science. and its a start to a new life. not something i could have achieved with meds and talk therapy (and i've been doing t.t. for 20 very long years).
on another note, i have had incredible success treating/eliminating my food allergies and ADD with NAET, a technique covered in chapter 8.
Please consider that this book has radically altered at least one person's life for the better. i pray it will help others as it helped me.
ps. it is vital to read this book with an open mind.

this is a great book for anyone looking gor an alternative to perscription medication. so far i have used some supplements recommended by the book and it is working. she does a good job of explaining the chemical reasons why and how things such as gluten, sugar, and caffiene actually effect our brain chemistry.

Some good information. Some of which you can get off of the Internet. Some of which you can't. I waited a while before writing this review, because people were praising the book so highly I thought I had missed something during my initial reading. So I went back and read it again. I didn't miss anything. It's nice to know that there are alternative therapies, because I have been on every med out there that's use to treat mania, and I've had major problems with all of them. They either don't work at all (the anti-convulsants) or send me to the emergency room with outrageous blood sugar problems (the atypical antipsychotics) that only clear up when I go off of the meds. My doctor talked about trying natural remedies, but he was unfamiliar with them. So after deciding that I was not going to take insulin just so that I could take psych meds, I started researching natural remedies for myself. I also decided that since one med that I know of does cut my mania within hours of taking it, I do not need to be on meds 24/7/365. I think this 24/7/365 med taking is marketing hype by the pharmaceutical companies. Plus, my doctor told me that, outside of lithium, no other drug is actually known to forestall manic episodes. So unless a drug takes weeks to build up in your system before it'll work, there is no scientific reason to take the drug 24/7/365.

What I really need from this book is a clear and organized list of the names of the alternative meds and a description of each; for instance, a description of what each is supposed to treat, as well as comprehensive state by state lists of the clinics that practice natural medicine. My health insurance would never pay for me to go out of state for treatment. So the book is not helpful, unless I can use it to self-medicate. All I learned from it is that there are alternatives. However, for most of us, who have limited resources, the alternative resources are out of reach.

I have suffered for 13 years with Bipolar Disorder, and this book was very thorough and educational about the nutritional components of the disorder, as well as alternative therapy treatments. I would highly recommend this book to anyone suffering from bipolar disorder.

This is the first book I bought after being diagnosed. I tryed the medications and knew it was not for me. This book was the foundation for my start to a natural treatment. It covers topics that the average person would never know could be a problem.

This book does a great job discribing Bipolar Disorder along with the many things that can contribute to the condition. It gave me hope that there are other alternatives that can work with Western Medicine. The auther has researched all treatments available and does a wonderful job discribing how each one is derived and how diagnosis is made and the treatment offered. The most important thing is it gave me hope that this stigma plaged disorder is one not to be ashamed of but one that tnat can be treated naturaly when the root of the problem has been determined. I am greatful there are people that are willing to present clear information so that we have other choices besides the one that treats the symptom and not the cause. Thank You, TE Carmel, IN

Useful and easy to read information.
Chapter Six 'Amino Acids: Giving the Brain What It Needs'
has helped me treat depression/insomnia.
In fact I would pay $50 for chapter six alone.

I give this book a "thumb's up" as a holistic practitioner who specializes in working with "difficult" conditions. I have had many children and adults referred to me who cannot seem to get the help they need from medication and often they have been misdiagnosed as well as mistreated. I find the book enlightening and would refer it to any client, to read. It is ideal for the layperson, seeking alternatives and information that is alternative or holistic and would be a good read for any conventional practitioner seeking to become more informed about alternative approaches.

I just started reading this book. After 30 pages so far this book is a better bet than "Healing Depression & Bipolar Disorder Without Drugs" in that it is better written, unbiased, has more informative explanations, and focuses on possible causes for BD and what can be done about it in terms of medication vs. natural remedies without resorting to paranoid examples. It's very well written with journalistic flair. Her writing is direct and reads easily, and is intended for us laypersons. I would highly recommend it.

As a follow up I am also reading "The Brain Diet" by Alan C. Logan, ND, FRSH (ND = Naturopathic Doctor, not sure what FRSH stands for) and "Change Your Brain, Change Your Life" by Daniel G. Amen, MD (neuropsychiatrist; this book has 3D neural images!)

I found this book to be a detailed, thorough examination of the causes and cures of Bipolar Disorder. The book breaks down chapters into causes, including environmental, and includes several treatment options. Options include:

-Biological Medicine
-Biochemical Treatment
-Amino Acids
-Cranial Osteopathy
-Allergies
-Homeopathy
and even a perspective on Shamanism.

This is the most informative singular guide that I have read regarding Bipolar Disorder.