Customer Reviews

Take Charge of Bipolar Disorder: A 4-Step Plan for You and Your Loved Ones to Manage the Illness and Create Lasting Stability

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1 star:		(1)

 

 

I was one of the lucky people who read an advance copy...and I was determined to be the first person to reveiw this amazing, life saving book on Amazon. Readers of Fast's and Preston's other book on Bipolar disorder (loving someone with bipolar) will be thrilled to finally get a detailed, step-by-step, super-in-depth plan that gently guides them to health. And for family members, this book will save relationships and marriages. The two things about this book that set it apart from anything else on the market that deals with bipolar disorder are 1)BIPOLAR CONVERSATIONS -- example: how do you talk to your teenage daughter/ mother/ spouse when they she's ready to kill herself, or manic, or sexually out of control? Fast and Preston, through their vast experiences and decades of dealing with this illness, show us what conversations work, and also HOW NOT to deal with those we love... and 2) sidebar stories from both bipolar patients and family members who have survived the devastating effects of this illness. They tell you what worked for them, where they were in their lives when they made the choice to take charge and get well. Especially powerful was the story written by Fast's brother. Actually, I found myself skipping ahead through the book and reading all the stories of the people who have this illness -- as well as the family member stories. Of course, I went back and read the whole book cover to cover. BUY THIS BOOK.

Julie Fast's unique perspective on bi-polar disorder comes from personal experience. In dealing with her own bi-polar disorder, she has personally had to do the challenging work to carve her own path through so she could live a productive life. Reading this book is a short-cut. It cuts through all the theory and goes to the heart of what actually works. If you need real assistance in dealing with the disorder yourself or if you need to know how to deal with a loved one who has bi-polar disorder, this book sends you life line. It lays out a step by step, practical approach that you can use as a handbook to guide you as you carve your own path through your individual challenge with bi-polar disorder.

This is a a wonderful, easy to understand book. I definately recommend it to anyone with Bipolar Disorder, and to anyone with a Bipolar person in their lives. This book discusses the needs of the person with bipolar disorder as well as the needs of family members, friends, and health care professionals.

My brother has just been diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder and while I knew basically what that meant, I needed to know more to understand what was happening to him. It is written for the person with Bipolar, with notes for family and friends on how to help him/her. I have just sent the book to my brother knowing that when he reads it, it will help him tremendously. It will help him understand what is happening and will teach him what to do when the mood changes begin. Like the book says on the cover - it will help him (and us) manage his illness so he can live a more stable life. It will help him understand why his brain is behaving the way it is and is written so positively that he should not feel scared or overwhelmed when he reads it. AND it teaches us how to respond to his mood changes which is very important.

I am a big fan of Julie Fast. This book was so helpful and inspiring. I have read many books on Bipolar Disorder and Julie Fast has always been the one I credit for really helping me get control back of my life. As a person living with bipolar disorder I would recomend this book 100%, It is not just for people living with Bipolar Disorder though it has also helped many family members. I would strongly recomend Julie Fasts other book for family members Loving Someone With Bipolar Disorder. I would also recomend Julie Fasts health cards and her books Bipolar Happens, and Tips for Talking with Health Care Professionals from her website [..] I love that all of her writtings come from her personal experience with Bipolar Disorder and from her loving someone with the disorder. Thank you Julie Fast for another extremely helpful coping tool.

This is a great book for those who suffer from bipolar illness and their friends and family. Actually, it is a workbook that encourages the bipolar person to write down, for instance, what their bipolar triggers are and then to share these triggers with family and friends so that they can recognize and call them to the bipolar person's attention in a helpful way. Julie coaches friends and family members on how to communicate appropriaately rather than reacting to the bipolar person.
I would strongly encourage people suffering from bipolar illness and their friends and family members to purchase a copy of this book by Julie Fast.

As a parent of a bipolarII, I have read a number of books on the subject in order to find ways in which we family members could be of help. This is by far the best of them. It is clearly organized and written, incorporating a workbook which the bipolar person can use to individualize his/her management of the disease, and lots of wonderful support for families. Julie Fast (the author) is bipolar and knows whereof she speaks!

I had also bought another bipolar disorder workbook, and this one is definately my favorite of the two. This one addresses both Bipolar I and II, whereas the other one acted like Bipolar II didn't even exist! This one also seems more comprehensive, dealing with diet, and supplements and other things that are helpful to bipolar patients.

I have read several books on Bipolar Disorder since I was diagnosed 2 years ago and this is probably the best one yet. It hits on some details that other books have left out.

This is an excellent resource for not only Bipolar sufferers, but for their spouses/families as well. I recommend this for the spouses and/or families of clients with Bipolar that I see in my private practice. Dr. Preston is gifted in his ability to take complex clinical subjects and discuss them in easily understandable terms.

It was an easy read and had so many useful helps in understanding bipolar issues. I continue to refer to it from week to week. Thanks! Nancy S.