Living with bipolar disorder

Mastering bipolar disorder. An insider’s guide to managing mood swings and finding balance.

Kerrie Eyers, Gordon Parker, editors. Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 2008 (xiv + 272 pp). ISBN 978 1 74175 546 6.

Bipolar disorder has seen an expansion of clinical, media and research interest, driven largely by the availability of new treatments. Although there are many quality books on bipolar disorder aimed at consumers, they generally share a theoretical derivation (psychoeducation, cognitive therapy, family therapy), tailored to a general readership. Almost all are written by health professionals. Mastering bipolar disorder differs from the herd because it is an edited collection of extracts from essays submitted to the Black Dog Institute essay competition, tasked with describing “The getting of wisdom — managing the ‘highs’ of bipolar disorder”.

This collection of anecdotes, experiences and hints from people who have learned from their experiences, successes and difficulties provides a unique perspective. It has the credibility of being the learned experience of survivors, and is a useful counterpoint to evidence and theoretically based books. It is highly readable, creatively using metaphor and image. Its focus on mania captures a range of issues, including dealing with mania, acceptance of illness, medication, detecting and managing early warning signs, and the impact on the family, but does not attempt to cover all areas, lacking sections on key issues such as depression. As a collage of edits, Mastering bipolar disorder does not aim to be comprehensive or definitive, and is likely to be used in conjunction with more systematic books.