suggestions on reading material for those who have loved ones with a mental illness?

[fizzgig]

it can be general material, but would be even better if it were targeted towards spouses/partners.

have i mentioned lately that i :loveya: you guys?

[Tobin S.]

1. "An Unquiet Mind" by Kate Jameson is good

It's written from her perspective as a mentally ill person, but she also speaks of her relationships. I'm not sure about her name, but I'm pretty sure that's the name of the book.

"The Music of Madness" by Tracy L. Harris. This book can be hard to find because it might be self-published. I think I found it at www.iuniverse.com For me, it's the best book I've ever read about mental illness. That's probably because she has the same illness as I do, schizoaffective disorder, and it made me very happy to find that someone who has the illness has written a book about it.

I really like the works written by people who are actually mentally ill. I think you can get a much better understanding of mental illness that way. Well, short of becoming a psychologist.

Both Jameson and Harris are highly successful people despite their illnesses. I find their stories inspirational.

[fizzgig]

4. thanks, tobin

i'll check those out

[mopinko]

2. kate redfield jameson

besides 'an unquiet mind', also wrote 'touched by fire', which is sort of- the good part about being bipolar.?? sort of.
most of what i have read, tho, is about kids.

[fizzgig]

5. that second one might be good reading for me

thanks for the suggestion

[hedgehog]

3. Undercurrents: A Life Beneath the Surface by Marth Manning

She's very frank about how depression came between herself and her husband for a while.

[fizzgig]

6. thanks

[no name no slogan]

7. "The Bipolar Handbook" by Wes Burgess

Link to Amazon.com review

This is a very simple, basic book, arranged in Q&A format, on bipolar disorder. I have owned it several times over, because I keep giving my copy away to somebody. I've given it to several friends, ex-girlfriends and even bosses because it does such a good job of describing what bipolar is in an easy to understand fashion.