Loving Someone with Bipolar Disorder - (New Harbinger Loving Someone) 2nd Edition by Julie A Fast & John D Preston (Paperback)

About the Book

Written to the partner of a bipolar individual, this book will help readers mend strained relationships, control episodic crises, learn which coping approaches work, and create loving, healthy relationships. Readers also learn how to recognize a bipolar conversation and survive the financial turbulence manic spending may cause.

Book Synopsis

Maintaining a relationship is hard enough without the added challenges of your partner's bipolar disorder symptoms. Loving Someone with Bipolar Disorder offers information and step-by-step advice for helping your partner manage mood swings and impulsive actions, allowing you to finally focus on enjoying your relationship while also taking time for yourself. This book explains the symptoms of your partner's disorder and offers strategies for preventing them and responding to these symptoms when they do occur.

This updated edition includes a new section about the medications your partner may be taking so that you can understand the side effects and help monitor his or her bipolar treatment. As a supportive partner, you deserve support yourself. This book will help you create a more balanced, fulfilling relationship.

Improve your relationship by learning how to:

• Identify your partner's symptom triggers so you can prevent episodes
• Improve communication by stopping irrational "bipolar conversations"
• Handle your partner's emotional ups and downs
• Foster closeness and connection with your partner

Review Quotes

"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

"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?

"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

"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

"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