Book Review: Owning Bipolar

The subtitle of Michael Pipich’s new book, Owning Bipolar: How Patients and Families Can Take Control of Bipolar Disorder, should be enough for those with bipolar disorder and their family members to want to pick up this book and embrace it. Bipolar disorder takes away a person’s feeling of self-control and this book gives hope that control can be taken back. People who are bipolar will appreciate that Pipich understands how it feels to the patient. He tries to remove the stigma of having bipolar, explaining that it is NOT the patient’s fault. This alone makes the book worth reading. He then provides a thorough explanation of how bipolar can develop and discusses genetic predisposition. He explains how bipolar might be misdiagnosed as a personality disorder, ADHD, obsessive compulsive disorder, or schizophrenia, or not diagnosed at all. Because of the complexity of bipolar, patients and families must try to be patient as possible diagnoses are tested. Pipich also offers a good explanation of the different types of bipolar and the diagnosis process. Once diagnosed, Pipich describes how patients or family members may have a difficult time accepting bipolar. This may be based on health or behavior reasons, but sometimes it is the stigma of having a mental illness. Because much of our society still has difficulty seeing mental illness as they do other illnesses, patients and families may be embarrassed to acknowledge bipolar. Pipich tells readers not to be. This is imp...
Source: Psych Central - Category: Psychiatry Authors: Tags: Bipolar Book Reviews Disorders Family General Genetics Medications Motivation and Inspiration Psychiatry Psychological Assessment Psychology Stigma Treatment accepting bipolar disorder bipolar disorder stigma Michael Pipich Source Type: news