I love reading. Always have – except for the period when a major depressive episode stole it from me –https://wp.me/p4e9Hv-qp. I’m never more than two feet away from a book or, at this point in my life, an ereader. Reading is how I explore the world.
So naturally, in trying to better understand my disorder, I read about it. And because I’m interested in psychology in general, in addition to books about bipolar disorder, I read about other mental illnesses as well.
Let me share some of my reading with you.
For sheer delight as well as profound insights, try Jenny Lawson’s Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things. Amid the hilarious stories of life in her other-than-typical family are insights into depression and social anxiety, along with a manifesto of defiance – the will to be, well, furiously happy.
The other easily approachable book is Allie Brosh’s Hyperbole and a Half: Unfortunate Situations, Flawed Coping Mechanisms, Mayhem, and Other Things That Happened. What started as a humorous blog grew into a book (with quirky illustrations) featuring two chapters in particular, “Adventures in Depression” and “Depression Part Two,” which are about as good as writing about depression gets. A second book, Solutions and Other Problems, was scheduled but has been postponed indefinitely.
And while we’re on the subject of funny books about mental illness, there’s Surviving Mental Illness Through Humor, an anthology edited by Jessica Azar and Alyson Herzig.
Perhaps the best-known book in the field of bipolar disorder is An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness, by Kay Redfield Jamison. In it, Jamison deals openly and honestly with bipolar disorder, particularly with mania and psychosis, along the road to becoming a doctor herself. She has also written Robert Lowell, Setting the River on Fire: A Study of Genius, Mania, and Character, about the famous modern poet, but I haven’t read it yet, so I can’t comment.
Other books on bipolar disorder include Lost Marbles: Insights into My Life with Depression & Bipolar by
For books about depression, the definitive work is The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression, by Andrew Solomon. A thorough examination of depression, including the author’s own, it is practically a reference book on the topic, though much less dry than that makes it sound.
Darkness Visible: A Memoir of Madness, by
- The Man With the Electrified Brain: Adventures in Madness, by Simon Winchester (who also wrote The Professor and the Madman, about the making of the Oxford English Dictionary). Despite the title, this is not about electroshock treatment, but rather dissociative states.
- Rebooting My Brain: How a Freak Aneurysm Reframed My Life, by Maria Ross; and My Life Deleted: A Memoir, by Scott Bolzan. These books, about a cerebral accident and amnesia, respectively, don’t speak directly to bipolar disorder, but I found them interesting as accounts of rebuilding one’s life after a significant mental condition.
And for an opposing point of view, if you must, there’s Anatomy of an Epidemic: Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Drugs, and the Astonishing Rise of Mental Illness in America, by Robert Whitaker. Once you’ve read the title, you pretty much know how the book’s going to go; I don’t recommend this anti-psychiatry screed.
What books do you recommend? Which have helped you?
Comments on: "Books About Bipolar and Other Fun Topics" (6)
Thank you so much for including my book and for the very kind words, too!
Normally, I’d reblog this post in a heartbeat. However, last week after I broke my jaw, I decided to take a hiatus from blogging. The accident was my fault – I tripped on concrete and I landed flat on my face.
Anyway, you’ve included some of my favorite books such as “An Unquiet Mind” by Kay Redfield Jamison; I was honored she endorsed the cover of my book.
I own Patty Duke’s “A Brilliant Madness” but I still haven’t read it yet! I did read Margaret Trudeau’s memoir “Changing My Mind” and found it to be a pageturner. Matt Samet’s “Death Grip” about a world-class climber’s battle with anxiety is great. And psychiatrist Greg de Moore’s “Finding Sanity: John Cade, Lithium and the Taming of Bipolar Disorder” is really interesting as well. Finally, there’s the U.K. psychiatrist Linda Gask’s memoir “The Other Side of Silence” about her struggle with depression – fascinating.
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You have my sympathies on your injury. I did a face-plant earlier this year but escaped with only a goose egg. Thank you so much for your suggestions. I’ll put them on my to-read list. Feel better soon!
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Thanks again, Janet—I’m ****very*** glad you didn’t have more than a goose egg!!!
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BTW, TheMighty.com will be reprinting the post, though I don’t know when it will go live.
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Awesome – that’s fantastic! I looked on Twitter to see if you’re there, but didn’t find it – do you have a new handle?
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coburn_janet
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