Bipolar 1 Disorder: How to Survive and Thrive - Molly McHugh

Bipolar 1 Disorder: How to Survive and Thrive
Molly McHugh

This book gives you a first-hand account of living with Bipolar 1 Disorder as well as treatments and self help therapies that will help you or a loved one not only survive this serious and devastating illness but thrive. Things you can do beyond the psychotropic drugs a psychiatrist will prescribe, or in addition to taking these medications which will help them be more effective and less debilitating. It is written with heart and style, by someone who understands the dynamics intimately - not just another book by a licensed medical professional who has never lived with the disorder. You will learn how to potentially lessen the severity of its devastating highs and lows. A few chapters in the book are:

* What Bipolar Illness is Really Like 

* Understanding Mania and Hypomania 

* When Lithium Therapy Does Not Work 

* Relapse, Suicide Risk and Times Past 

* Bipolar Disorder vs Drug Addiction 

* The Difference Between Bipolar 1 Disorder and Bipolar 2 Disorder 

* Major Depression is Hell 

* Hospitalizations and Paths to Wellness 

* Social Life and Relationships 

* Bipolar Onset and Contributing Factors 

* 10 Treatments That May Help You or a Loved One 

* Discrimination a Sufferer May Face 

There is quoted material from trusted sources (medical research, psychiatric journals, mental health websites, etc.) included throughout the book, with active links for you to click on to read more about the subject.

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Please Pass The Books Review:

Everything I ever thought I knew about Bipolar disorder...well, to keep from embarrassing myself, let's just say I knew nothing and leave it at that. This memoir starts with Molly McHugh as a San Francisco college student, delving immediately into the subject matter and her first traumatic experience with an episode. It is both terrifying and heartbreaking to read about, with McHugh's raw narrative drawing you in immediately—and deeply.

Throughout, the records of McHugh's experiences are straightforward and honest. There is no PC brush or glossing over of her experiences, even with the injections of with a liberal humor [such as giving her doctors nicknames like Sexy 1 and Sexy 2]. To me personally, some of the most horrifying accounts were the abuses described against the mentally ill—the most vulnerable of people. The most eye-opening were her experiences with a round-robin of antipsychotic, neuroleptic, antidepressive, and a whole host of other drugs and treatments. Lithium, the Bipolar psychotropic of choice, was dispensed liberally and came with side effects that were both damaging and unexpected ["Did you get a perm?"]. I would imagine for anyone starting on this journey and being dished out pharmaceuticals, McHugh's no-holds-barred narrative is a good of a first-hand account as one will get.

While Bipolar 1 Disorder - How to Survive and Thrive goes into great detail regarding McHugh personal struggles, the book offers a great deal of background and information on alternatives that she found success with. How acceptance and small but meaningful modifications made impactful, positive changes in her life. This isn't just the story of her initial struggles with bipolar one, it's a memoir of her life; how she was able to live and function over the decades, despite having every imaginable obstacle thrown on her path. And not just how to live—but how to flourish. And so, ultimately, what McHugh offers readers of her book is hope. Having read her story, it would seem that hope, particularly when faced with bipolar one, might just be the greatest gift of all.

FIVE STARS

A travel fanatic single Mom who has lived with bipolar disorder since her first manic episode during college at age 19. Her memoir "Bipolar 1 Disoder - How to Survive and Thrive" is the sharing of her story in the style of other mental health memoirs with much additional information added.

There are 10 alternative treatments described and much quoted material from trusted mental health sources. A book offered to help and inspire others.

Molly is a freelance writer. Her freelance writer's website with portfolio is here: www.mollymchugh.com. She blogs about BP-1 at: www.bipolar1survivor.com.

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