Bipolar Disorder: A Guide for Patients and Families
Author: Francis Mark Mondimor
"Bipolar disorder is a mood disorder that affects about two percent of the population. Such famous politicians, writers, artists, and musicians as Winston Churchill, George Frederick Handel, Lord Byron, Virginia Woolf, Edgar Allan Poe, Napoleon Bonaparte, and Vincent van Gogh had bipolar disorder, but most persons affected by bipolar disorder are just ordinary people who want nothing more than to get back to their everyday lives after they or their family members have been diagnosed with the illness. This book is written for them." -- from the Preface
In this book for persons with bipolar disorder and their families, Dr. Frank Mondimore offers a comprehensive, practical, compassionate guide to the symptoms, diagnosis, treatment and causes of this potentially devastating psychiatric illness, formerly known as "manic-depression." He offers practical advice for getting the most out of the various treatments that are now available -- from medication, psychotherapy, and electroconvulsive treatment to new approaches such as St. John's wort and transcranial magnetic stimulation. For each, he discusses advantages, disadvantages, side effects, and other information to help patients make informed decisions about treatment options. He also describes what it is like to live with bipolar disorder and discusses how lifestyle changes can improve quality of life. Throughout, he focuses on the importance of building a support system, of planning for emergencies, and of giving one's self permission to seek help.
Bipolar disorder is a particularly difficult illness to diagnose and treat, Dr. Mondimore acknowledges, and it can be incredibly destructive to relationships and careers, canwreak havoc on family life and, when not properly treated, is a potentially fatal disease. In his wide-ranging discussion of this unpredictable disorder, Dr. Mondimore describes problems that are unique to women, whose disease may be affected by the menstrual cycle, pregnancy, and childbirth,. He includes new information on the forms the illness takes in children and adolescents, in whom it can sometimes be mistaken for more common problems such as "hyperactivity" or Attention Deficit Disorder. He explains what we know about the genetics of the disease, how symptoms fluctuate with the seasons in seasonal affective disorder, and how illness can be made more difficult to treat because of alcoholism or drug abuse. He discusses coping with the stigmatization of psychiatric diagnosis, gives advice on picking a psychiatrist and on dealing with medical insurance issues, and even explores the fascinating relationship between bipolar disorder and artistic creativity. Finally, Dr. Mondimore tells family members what they can do to help the person with bipolar disorder -- and themselves -- and he offers hope for the future as researchers learn more about the disease and how to control it.
Emily K. Tedesco
This book is a comprehensive and practical guide to this devastating psychiatric illness. The author incorporates an easy to understand format that includes the symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment options for those affected with bipolar disorder. The purpose is to help educate and inform. The author does a great job in fully explaining the advantages and disadvantages of treating this illness. The most important component is the effective way he combines all the current facts and data into a practical and useful guide. The book is targeted toward patients with bipolar disorder and their families. It would also be useful for students and mental health professionals who work with this special population. The author is credible and quotes respected professionals in the field. This book includes modern treatment options, tips for getting and staying well, a full explanation of the DSM-IV diagnostic criteria, and how the illness affects special populations. The author includes a section on coping with medication side effects. The most important feature is the full section of up-to-date resources, including support groups, informational Internet sites, and suggested readings. This book is an invaluable tool for patients and families living with bipolar disorder. The author incorporates real life stories, expert advice, symptoms and diagnosis, modern treatment options, and resources to help make living with this disorder tolerable. Most importantly, the concepts and information presented in this book are practical.
Doody Review Services
Reviewer: Emily K. Tedesco, BA, CADC (Rush University Medical Center)
Description: This book is a comprehensive and practical guide to this devastating psychiatric illness. The author incorporates an easy to understand format that includes the symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment options for those affected with bipolar disorder.
Purpose: The purpose is to help educate and inform. The author does a great job in fully explaining the advantages and disadvantages of treating this illness. The most important component is the effective way he combines all the current facts and data into a practical and useful guide.
Audience: The book is targeted toward patients with bipolar disorder and their families. It would also be useful for students and mental health professionals who work with this special population. The author is credible and quotes respected professionals in the field.
Features: This book includes modern treatment options, tips for getting and staying well, a full explanation of the DSM-IV diagnostic criteria, and how the illness affects special populations. The author includes a section on coping with medication side effects. The most important feature is the full section of up-to-date resources, including support groups, informational Internet sites, and suggested readings.
Assessment: This book is an invaluable tool for patients and families living with bipolar disorder. The author incorporates real life stories, expert advice, symptoms and diagnosis, modern treatment options, and resources to help make living with this disorder tolerable. Most importantly, the concepts and information presented in this book are practical.
Booknews
A guide to the symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, and causes of this potentially devastating psychiatric illness, formerly known as manic-depression. Mondimore (psychiatrist and clinical faculty member at the U. of North Carolina) offers practical advice for getting the most out of the various treatments that are now available<-->from medication, psychotherapy, and electroconvulsive treatment to new approaches such as transcranial magnetic stimulation. He also describes problems that are unique to women, forms the illness takes in children and adolescents, the genetics of the disease, and ways to cope with the stigma of psychiatric diagnosis. Throughout, he focuses on the importance of building a support system, of planning for emergencies, and of giving one's self permission to seek help. Paper edition (unseen), $16.95. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Kirkus Reviews
An exhaustive, scientific, yet compassionate assist for sufferers of "the chameleon of psychiatric disorders" and their families. Psychiatrist Mondimore (Univ. of North Carolina, Chapel Hill) looks first at the symptoms and diagnosis of bipolar disorder, or manic-depression: the disease wears many masks that can make diagnosis difficult. Mondimore concedes that at present psychiatrists are generally working with the same diagnostic tools that were used in the 19th century: their eyes and ears. He goes on to discuss treatment. Medications are first and foremost—primarily mood stabilizers, antidepressants, and antipsychotics. He follows with a thoughtful considerations of electroconvulsive therapy, counseling, and psychotherapy. Mondimore is especially clear on medication side effects (and how to avoid them), how various treatments have been used and misused, and what a reasonable standard should be. In part three, Mondimore considers how bipolar disorder affects children, adolescents, and women; and how it is affected by alcoholism and drug abuse, seasonal affective disorder and chronobiology, genetics, and other medical conditions such as stroke and hormonal problems. In part four, Mondimore offers real, detailed help for living with the disease. The key is to recognize that bipolar disease is relentless and that the way to keep it at bay is for the patient to be relentless, too—"about getting needed treatment and sticking to it". Illustrative case studies here make it clear this can be done, but it isn't easy. An absolute gold mine, then, for those with the disorder and their families: thorough, candid, and up-to-date advice, full of new possibilities for help.
Rating
3 Stars from Doody
Book review: The Bible Cure or Cuts Fitness for Men
Stem Cell Divide: The Facts, the Fiction, and the Fear Driving the Greatest Scientific, Political, and Religious Debate of Our Time
Author: Michael Bellomo
"The debate about the merits, dangers, and nature of stem cell research rages on. Some see in it the answer to every debilitating disease known to man, while others see it as a sinister gateway to human cloning." With The Stem Cell Divide, Michael Bellomo debunks the distortions and exaggerations that come from every camp. In the search for the truth about stem cell science, he has interviewed many of the scientists whose research is at the very heart of this divisive issue. The book lays out what research has (and hasn't) accomplished so far, what current initiatives are focused on, and what may be coming in the near and distant future.
Table of Contents:
| Pt. I | Discovery of the stem cell's unique abilities | |
| 1 | Morning on the devil's highway | 7 |
| 2 | Head of the Hydra | 19 |
| 3 | The furnace of creation | 31 |
| 4 | The ugliest thing in medicine | 41 |
| 5 | The starter culture | 51 |
| Pt. II | The race to harness the power of life | |
| 6 | California dreaming | 65 |
| 7 | Investing in hope and hype | 75 |
| 8 | From Roe to Dickey | 87 |
| 9 | Division on the Hill | 97 |
| 10 | Stem cell superpowers | 107 |
| 11 | The rise and fall of South Korea's cloning king | 119 |
| Pt. III | Stem cell cures and curses | |
| 12 | Therapeutic cloning and regenerative medicine | 133 |
| 13 | Resolving the debate : adult vs. embryonic stem cells | 143 |
| 14 | Germ of an idea | 153 |
| 15 | Needles and haystacks | 159 |
| 16 | Banking on cord blood | 167 |
| 17 | So close and yet so far | 175 |
| 18 | Cautionary tales : the coming stem cell decade | 197 |
| 20 | Epilogue : the coming stem cell century | 207 |
| App. A | Protocols and nutrient mixes for culturing human cells | 219 |
| App. B | The California Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative : selected text from California Proposition 71 | 227 |
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