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Why am I still depressed? Recognizing and Managing the Ups and Downs of
Bipolar 11 and Soft Bipolar Disorder
By Jim Phelps M.D.
Book Review by Collie -
April30, 2006
I read Dr Phelps book over the
weekend, and due to the fact that I consider myself to be fairly well
educated about bipolar disorder, I wasn’t expecting any big surprises. I
certainly wasn’t expecting any answers to questions that have nagged me
for years, but I was most pleasantly surprised. The book itself is well
written, spelling out in plain language how to recognize and treat Bipolar
II Disorder, or Soft Bipolar Disorder – or, in fact, the entire bipolar
spectrum (personally this was the first major hurdle I had to cross,
although I have seen suggestions of spectrums before, breaking bipolar
disorder into six subtypes for example, rather than two. But the concept
of bipolarity occurring across the spectrum was a new one for me. On a
score of 1-5 I would give this book a 5.5 – I think it is that important
that any person with mood swings or recurrent depression is able to read
about, and understand how even subtle changes in mood can provoke problems
along the way.
Dr. Phelps is speaking to us,
the patient (or survivor as many of us prefer to be called), and to the
physicians who treat us, who have been educated in the older school of
thought about bipolar disorder – almost like a math equation: 2 of this
plus 4 of that and because none of this is added in it = “bipolar disorder
II” Dr Phelps is more like a gourmet chef … looking at a wide variety of
signs and symptoms, ferreting out even the smallest change of mood as
evidence of bipolar disorder in people who had previously been thought to
have major depression (many people who are diagnosed with major depression
are later diagnosed with bipolar disorder … often taking an average of
seven years to have their diagnosis changed.)
The next big change is in the
treatment of bipolar II disorder and the soft disorders. Even though
there are many variables across the spectrum … milder symptoms, short
term, long term, life threatening, severe symptoms etc, one thing is
constant, and that is the need for appropriate treatment to make you feel
as well as you can feel, without side effects from the medication you
take. I’m not going to talk about treatment here, but if you were
diagnosed over five years ago and haven’t read Dr. Phelps web site at
psycheducation.org I’ll bet – if I were a gambler I’d say $5.00 each, that
you are either prescribing (if you’re a doctor), or taking (if you’re a
patient) some kind of antidepressant medication. I challenge you to read
the book and digest the information Dr Phelps presents – a big bite to
swallow at first, but it makes absolute, perfect sense.
I have been diagnosed with
Bipolar II Disorder for 28 years, and have traveled a rocky path. My
mother was diagnosed with Manic Depressive Illness (the former name for
bipolar disorder, the terms are used interchangeably today) for 30 years
before me, and I have a plethora of alcoholic relatives on both the
maternal and paternal side of the family, including a younger brother who
I am positive has bipolar disorder hidden (and not very well hidden)
beneath the alcoholic symptoms. Read Dr Phelps book to learn his approach
to this kind of family history.
When I “retired” from my full
time day job, having reached the point where I could not be a consistently
good employee with frequent absences due to severe episodes and
hospitalizations I truly thought I would go mad. Then slowly I learned to
use the computer, and just over ten years ago began to build the web site
Bipolar World (bipolarworld.net) – I credit it with saving my life.
Almost six years ago Dr Phelps joined me and does a fantastic job as our
“Ask the Doc” We all think he’s pretty super, as do the visitors who come
to both of our sites. Over five years ago I was joined by three partners
who shared my philosophy of “Helping you, helps me” and we have continued
to grow both in knowledge and support, due in a large part to Dr.
Phelps.
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