Loving Someone with Bipolar Disorder: Understanding and Helping Your Partner

by Julie A. Fast

Overview

Loving Someone with Bipolar Disorder is a first of its kind book—written specifically for the partner of a person with bipolar disorder. If you have a loved one with bipolar, you know how disruptive and straining this disorder can be to your relationship. You may experience feelings of fear, loss, and anxiety as well as a constant uncertainly about your loved one’s ever-changing moods.

This book is designed to help you overcome the unique challenges of loving someone with bipolar disorder. With the supportive and helpful information, strategies, and real-life examples contained here, you’ll have all the tools you need to create a loving, healthy, and close relationship.

Find out how to:

• Identify which coping approaches work and which do not
• Recognize and transform a “bipolar conversation”
• Use new strategies to help manage episodic crises
• Survive the financial turbulence manic spending may cause
• Deal with problematic sexual issues Increase closeness and stability in your relationship

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781572247789
Publisher:	New Harbinger Publications
Publication date:	06/01/2009
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	224
File size:	324 KB

About the Author

Julie A. Fast, freelance writer and Web master of www.juliefast.com, lives in the Pacific Northwest. She believes that with the right tools, bipolar disorder is a predictable and treatable illness.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments vii

Chapter 1 Getting Started 1

Chapter 2 Treat Bipolar Disorder First 7

Chapter 3 Multipolar Disorder 18

Chapter 4 Medication Basics 34

Chapter 5 The Holistic Treatment Plan 54

Chapter 6 The "What Works" List 65

Chapter 7 Bipolar Disorder Triggers 79

Chapter 8 A Couple Takes Charge 102

Chapter 9 The Bipolar Conversation 127

Chapter 10 Your Emotional Response to Bipolar Disorder 144

Chapter 11 Work and Money l56

Chapter 12 S-E-X 172

Chapter 13 What about You? 184

Chapter 14 The Hard Truths about Bipolar Disorder 196

Chapter 15 How to Create Laughter and Joy in Your Relationship 210

Appendix Quick Reference Guide to Medications 219

Resources 237

References 239

Editorial Reviews

"Resources for individuals with bipolar disorder are few and far between, but those for the people who care for them are even scarcer. Julie A. Fast and John D. Preston have put together a valuable resource for families and caregivers of people with bipolar disorder. Taking a holistic perspective, these authors offer advice that will help readers help their loved ones with bipolar disorder. More importantly, this book encourages and helps readers to take good care of themselves and their relationships."
—Sheri Van Dijk, MSW, RSW, psychotherapist and author of The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Workbook for Bipolar Disorder, The Bipolar Workbook for Teens, and other books

"I am truly impressed with this wonderful book. I will have it in my office and recommend it to patients’ partners as a matter of course as they go through the journey with this illness."
—Steven Juergens, MD

"More than an education about bipolar disorder, this is a welcome to the journey, in the kindest language you will find in any such book. Open to any page and you will notice the tone and wisdom of people who’ve obviously been there. It’s a challenge to maintain a relationship with someone who has this illness. You’d do well to have a guide, and you will not find any better than Julie A. Fast and John D. Preston. Nor will you find any clearer advice than that which the authors have laid out. Their book is remarkably emotionally intelligent and a privilege to read."
—James Phelps, MD, mood disorders specialist at Samaritan Mental Health in Corvallis, OR, and author of Why Am I Still Depressed?

"This book will help the loved ones of people living with bipolar disorder to better understand its challenges. It provides clear, concrete ways of giving the support needed to keep their loved ones healthy and get them through the rough spots."
—Ruth White, PhD, MPH, MSW, associate professor of social work at Seattle University and author of Bipolar 101

"Julie A. Fast and John D. Preston have put together an impressive second-edition guide for couples struggling with the reality of bipolar disorder. They strive to decouple the diagnosis from the individual living with it. This premise lays the groundwork for their discussion of compassionate, non-blaming communication combined with effective couples-based solutions for those striving to work through the interpersonal complexities of a relationship impacted by bipolar disorder. Loving Someone with Bipolar Disorder really is a must-read for anyone who does."
—Russ Federman, PhD, ABPP, director of counseling and psychological services at the University of Virginia and author of Facing Bipolar

From the Publisher