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Surviving Manic Depression: A Manual on Bipolar Disorder for Patients, Families, and Providers | 
 enlarge | Authors: M.d., E. Fuller Torrey, D.o., Michael B. Knable
Publisher: Basic Books
Category: Book
List Price: $18.00
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Rating:  25 reviews
Sales Rank: 255278
Media: Paperback
Pages: 432
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 5.3 x 1.1
ISBN: 0465086640
Dewey Decimal Number: 616.895
EAN: 9780465086641
ASIN: 0465086640
Publication Date: March 1, 2005
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Condition: A copy that has been read, but remains in clean condition. All pages are intact, and the cover is intact (including dust jacket if applicable). The spine may show signs of wear; pages can include limited notes and highlighting. Goodwill Industries of Greater Grand Rapids, Inc. is a non-profit organization dedicated to changing lives through the power of work. The organization offers a wide range of employment and training programs free of charge to assist those with disabilities and other barriers to employment.
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Amazon.com Review
If knowing one's enemy is key to surviving a prolonged encounter, then Surviving Manic Depression should prove essential reading to those who suffer from this brain disease's horrific highs and lows. Having immersed themselves in the topic, E. Fuller Torrey, M.D., and Michael B. Knable, D.O., offer a comprehensive resource for those afflicted with--or responsible for treating--manic depression. Unfortunately, a surprisingly small amount of data exists regarding its prevalence, and existing studies show conflicting results. Torrey and Knable's emphasis on dissecting all that is known about the disease clearly indicates that "survival" entails neither escape nor eradication; rather, it requires a lifelong pledge to undertake an effective course of treatment. The first step: learning every suspected cause, symptom, risk factor, and treatment strategy. Sprinkled among statistic-laden paragraphs, touches of empathy arrive via articulate quotations from sufferers including Patty Duke and Kay Jamison. But the crux of Torrey and Knable's work is its compilation of all the informative bits and pieces readers need to build an effective action plan. Most helpful are the chapters that address special problems (including alcohol and drug abuse, violent behavior, medication noncompliance, and the seduction of mania); and their no-holds-barred reviews of books, selected Web sites, and videotapes. --Liane Thomas
Product Description
Surviving Manic Depression is the most comprehensive, up-to-date book on the disorder that affects more than two million people in the United States alone. Based on the latest research, it provides detailed coverage of every aspect of the disorder.All aspects of the disease are addressed: symptoms, with many direct descriptions from patients themselves, risk factors, onset and cause, medications (including drugs still in the testing stage), causes, psychotherapy, and rehabilitation and how the disease affects children and adolescents. Here too are discussions of special problems related to manic-depressive disorder, including alcohol and drug abuse, violent behavior, medication noncompliance, suicide, sex, AIDS, and confidentiality. Surviving Manic Depression also includes special features such as a listing of selected websites, videotapes, and other resources.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 20 more reviews...
 Manual on Bipolar Disorder April 5, 2008
Elle (St. Louis, MO)
This is a really helpful book. Great for trying to learn about this disorder and being supportive. Also very good for helping yourself understand better what's going on with your loved one with this disorder. Very, very good book. The other reviews were extremely helpful in my decision to buy this book.
 Not so fun to read but some good information January 5, 2008
Ryan Poling
Although there is a lot of good information in this book, getting beyond the first chapter is a challenge. When you begin reading, there is no engaging narrative style, just a series of subtitles with factual information underneath. If you are like me, this isn't the first information you are looking for...statistics on how many people have the disease (depends upon when and how you define it)...statistics on how many people are being treated in urban vs. rural settings... To make a long story short, this book does not grab you at all. You have to push through, as if you were reading an academic paper, to get information. There are no uplifting case histories referred to throughout the book that keep you interested (cases mentioned are usually one or two paragraph examples). Nor are there any new theories presented here - just a disjointed summary of the (disappointing) research that has been done thus far. The medication section is not up to date, since there was no mention of Lamictal as a treatment. I bought this book because of the good review here on Amazon, and was somewhat disappointed, so I felt compelled to add me own feelings for the benefit of those who might do the same.
 A Frustrating Book About a Frustrating "Illness". September 5, 2006
Prometheus (EVROPA.)
27 out of 41 found this review helpful
To begin with, this book is mistitled. If you are looking for a book of practical advice for how to get through day to day struggles while in the throes of this illness, this book offers very little. If you are looking for practical advice for how to deal with someone (a loved one perhaps) who may have this illness, this book does not really offer much of this either. And, if you are looking to validate your experience by reading about accounts of individuals who have had similar experiences, this book does not include much of this either. This book is really more for psychiatrists and medical professionals who try to define the illness. Thus, it includes discussions of what exactly constitutes the illness, various studies, and the endless wrangling among experts over where to draw the lines and which theories of the illness are correct. After reading this book, I have concluded that not only do psychiatrists know very little about the human brain and the human mind, but they may know nothing at all. Much of the definition of the illness seems entirely arbitrary, as even the author points out, and most of the research into the physiological causes of the illness remain poorly understood and open to multiple interpretations. Furthermore, for any given individual who exhibits symptoms of either mania or depression, there is really no predicting the illness. Some may go on to cycle rapidly between the two for the rest of their lives. Others may never experience an episode again. The author claims that certain medications (e.g. lithium) work to either prevent or dampen the effects of mania and depression, but they don't work in all cases, the reason why they work is poorly understood, they may or may not have harmful side effects, and furthermore there is no proof that improvement is necessarily due to the medication at all. Then, there is the issue of diagnosis. Despite the fact that the diagnostic criteria appear to be exact, closer inspection reveals them to be almost completely arbitrary with no clear limits as to what qualifies as illness and with the limits that are written into the criteria themselves being arbitrarily set. In addition, it would appear that while certain individuals exhibit classical symptoms of the illness (oscillating between the two extremes in various amounts), the majority do not. Which leads me to believe that in many cases the illness is being overdiagnosed and used as a catch-all to explain any bad, eccentric, or otherwise unexplainable behavior. My personal experience with psychologists and psychiatrists also leads me to believe this. I have found that psychologists and psychiatrists tend to be normal people with a fancy degree. This means that they are just as prone to misunderstand behavior that falls outside the norm as anyone else. In addition, I have found that psychologists and psychiatrists tend to see what they look for in people. If a psychologist or psychiatrist has a preconceived notion of an individual's experience, they will tend to perceive their behavior so as to confirm their own theories about that person. I have no further evidence to support my belief that psychologists and psychiatrists do not possess any extraordinary insight, but my hunch tells me that they really do not. How could they?
To sum up, here is my understanding of manic depression. We all have ups and downs throughout the day, week, and year. It's part of being human. However, psychiatrists seem to be obsessed with these ups and downs. And they want you to be obsessed with them too. Some people have really high ups and really deep downs. Obviously the people who have the highest ups and the lowest downs need some sort of treatment. The only question is what sort of treatment should that be. Psychiatrists like Torrey would argue that the only really effective treatment is a drug like lithium (perhaps with various other drugs including anti-depressants and anti-psychotics or even other more drastic treatments such as ECT in extreme cases). Many psychologists would argue that they need psychotherapy (the talking cure) of one form or another. Torrey contends that in the case of manic depression psychotherapy really is optional and may or may not do any good (at best it can help a person become more aware of their illness and offer practical advice). Furthermore, Torrey contends that some forms of psychotherapy may even be harmful, particularly Freudian therapy. On this point I tend to agree wholeheartedly with Torrey on both points. I agree that Freudian therapy is definitely not beneficial in the least and is possibly harmful. (Freud has really offered humanity very little despite his eminence. See Torrey's much better book, _The Freudian Fraud_ for more on this.) And at least in my personal experience I have found psychotherapy to be largely a waste of time, money, and energy. At best a psychotherapist can serve as a friend in a time of crisis or offer some very simple commonsense practical advice, but beyond this I really doubt they can be very useful. In addition, I have often found that talking to a psychotherapist is like talking to a Martian, they really don't get what you have to say and they interpret everything you say within a certain framework that makes it very difficult for you to have any sort of real conversation with them. I have also found some psychotherapists to be downright hostile to things you might say and to be remarkably arrogant.
Another frustrating thing about manic depression for me at least, is that I really can't relate to the descriptions others give of their illness very well. For me, the illness has never been about spending sprees or sex, etc. It has always been for me about increased energy, extreme nervousness, sleeping problems, heightened senses, and intense religious/mystical experience. When I hear other people describe their experiences with the illness I really can't relate because they seem so little like mine. This has only added to my doubt about the usefulness of diagnosing this illness to begin with. I also find it frustrating that some have attempted to link this disorder with creativity or high achievement. Particularly noxious I find are romanticizers like Kay Jamison, who not only try to link this illness with creativity, but also would seem to give the impression that it is a social status thing (an illness high achieving or upper crust individuals are prone to), and in doing so give the impression that it is also a lot of fun. There is nothing fun about the psychic pain of depression, and I have found little fun about "mania" either to be honest. Furthermore, it is definitely not fun to see the kind of destruction that follows in the path of this illness for some people. Torrey seems to give some credence to Jamison's theories, though to his credit he is much more conservative than her.
Finally, there is one other point. The author says that you should tell people that you have this illness. I disagree. Nearly everyone I have told that I have been diagnosed with manic depression, I have lived to regret later. If you tell someone, you may meet a sympathetic person who can understand that you have been through a hard time. (Most people can relate to "depression" of some sort, but they really do not understand the true agony of the thing.) On the other hand, you may go from being treated with respect to being treated little better than a common criminal. You haven't changed but they have. Mania in particular is so far outside of most peoples' understanding that they will find it difficult to comprehend what you really mean. Furthermore, I have found that people tend to be very cruel and prone to all sorts of prejudices and superstitions when this topic is brought up. My own experience with other people and this illness has been so negative, in fact, that I have been left with a permanent fear of people and a nagging feeling that I am being subtly criticized by nearly everyone I meet.
A final point, I think that there is a tendency by many to become totally obsessed with this illness and every detail surrounding it. This book is a good example of that kind of obsession, by both psychiatrists and ill people alike. I don't think this obsession is beneficial at all, and endless wrangling over details seems utterly pointless. I must conclude after reading this book that psychiatrists still know very little (definitely far less than they pretend to know or that they'll tell you) and that much of what they do know is entirely arbitrary. It remains a mystery.
 Reading the Definitive Authority on Manic Depression August 5, 2005
Robert W. Vance (Kendallville, IN USA)
3 out of 8 found this review helpful
Very well written and presented. I would recommend this book to anyone I know with Manic Depression. It was very helpful to me.
Excellent book highly recommended. March 19, 2005
LookingForHelp (Colorado)
6 out of 14 found this review helpful
This is an excellent book about all aspects of Bipolar Depression. It is a terrible disease and the depression is quite dangerous. There is a new FDA approved procedure for depression called vagus nerve stimulation. I would recommend another excellent book; "Out of the Black Hole: The Patient's Guide to Vagus Nerve Stimulation and Depression". It's ISBN number is # 0974848417. I found both books very helpful for the treatment plan with my psychiatrist. As far as I am considered, the more information you have, the better.
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