Loving Someone with Bipolar Disorder, Second Edition

This fully revised and updated second edition of the bestselling Loving Someone with Bipolar Disorder discusses all aspects of readers' relationships with bipolar partners: work, money, sex, medications and their side effects, therapeutic treatments, and more. Also called manic depressive disorder, bipolar disorder can cause extreme mood swings, and people who suffer from this disorder can alternate between manic and depressed behavior without much warning. Loving Someone with Bipolar Disorder, Second Edition , builds on the practical advice offered in the original book by offering critical new information on the medications that are sometimes prescribed to manage bipolar disorder symptoms. Readers will learn how their partners may be affected by medication and what side effects they can expect. Because readers serve an important role in managing and monitoring their partner's medication, this information is essential to supporting the treatment of people with bipolar disorder. Readers discover how to better communicate with their partners, manage their own emotional responses to partners' mood swings, and deal with problems relating to work, money, and sex. Although this guide is written for the romantic partner of an individual with bipolar disorder, thousands of friends and family members of people with bipolar disorder have also found its realistic and practical advice endlessly useful.

“"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

"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

Julie A. Fast is a coach for partners and family members of those with bipolar disorder. She runs a successful blog at and is coauthor of Take Charge of Bipolar Disorder and Get It Done When You're Depressed. John D. Preston, PsyD, ABPP, is professor emeritus at Alliant International University in Sacramento, CA. He is author or coauthor of over twenty books addressing psychotherapy, psychiatric medication treatment, and neurobiology.

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