Living with Bipolar: A Guide to Understanding and Managing the Disorder

313 Pages·2008·3.11 MB·English

by  Lesley Berk

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Lesley Berk MA (Clin Psych) is a psychologist with extensive
experience in the clinical management of bipolar and other mood
disorders. She has also been involved in psychosocial research in
bipolar disorder and has contributed to scientific journals and
presented at conferences in this area.
Michael Berk MBBCh, MMed (Psych), FF(Psych), FRANZCP,
PhD is Professor of Psychiatry at Barwon Health and The Geelong
Clinic at The University of Melbourne, and heads the Bipolar
program at Orygen Research Centre. He is president of the Inter-
national Society of Bipolar Disorders.
David Castle MB ChB, MSc., MD, DLSHTM, MRCPsych,
FRANZCP is Professor of Psychiatry, St Vincent’s Health and The
University of Melbourne. He has published widely in scientific
journals and co-authored 13 books.
Sue Lauder MA (Clin) is a psychologist and has worked in
private practice and in a variety of clinical research settings as well
as teaching in undergraduate psychology programs. Sue also has a
nursing background working in community settings on a range of
health and welfare initiatives.
Please visit www.allenandunwin.com/livingwithbipolar
to access downloadable forms and other support materials
from the Living with Bipolar website.
http://avaxhome.ws/blogs/ChrisRedfield
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Living with
Bipolar
A guide to understanding
and managing the disorder
Lesley Berk, Michael Berk,
David Castle and Sue Lauder
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First published in 2008
Copyright © Lesley Berk, Michael Berk, David Castles and Sue Lauder 2008
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted
in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including
photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system,
without prior permission in writing from the publisher. TheAustralian
Copyright Act 1968(the Act) allows a maximum of one chapter or 10 per
cent of this book, whichever is the greater, to be photocopied by any
educational institution for its educational purposes provided that the
educational institution (or body that administers it) has given a
remuneration notice to Copyright Agency Limited (CAL) under the Act.
Allen & Unwin
83 Alexander Street
Crows Nest NSW 2065
Australia
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.allenandunwin.com
National Library of Australia
Cataloguing-in-Publication entry:
Living with bipolar : a guide to understanding and managing
the disorder.
Bibliography.
Includes index.
ISBN 978 1 74175 425 4 (pbk.).
1. Manic-depressive illness. 2. Manic-depressive illness -
Handbooks, manuals, etc. 3. Depression, Mental. 4.
Depression, Mental - Handbooks, manuals, etc. I. Berk,
Lesley.
616.895
Set in 11/14 pt Adobe Garamond by Midland Typesetters, Australia
Printed in Australia by McPherson’s Printing Group
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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This book is dedicated to those people with bipolar disorder
who have touched us with their suffering, taught us with their
experiences, inspired us with their resilience, and motivated us
to try to make a difference.
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Acknowledgments
We want to thank supportive organisations that have facilitated
our learning and research with regard to the adjunctive psycho-
social treatment of bipolar disorder. These include: Beyond Blue,
MBF, Barwon Health, the Geelong Clinic, the Geelong Mood
Support Group, Pathways, the Melbourne Clinic, University of
Melbourne and the Collaborative Therapy Unit at MHRI. In
particular, we thank Monica Gilbert, Neil Cole, Reid Maxwell
and Krista Scaarup. Special thanks also go to Tania Lewis for her
constructive feedback regarding this book.
Author’s note:
Names of people with bipolar disorder and their families have
been changed to protect their identity.
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1
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments vi
List of tables and figures ix
Introduction xi
11 What is bipolar disorder? 1
12 Bipolar depression 17
13 Mania and hypomania 29
14 Adapting to bipolar disorder 41
15 Causes and triggers 56
16 Medication as a personal strategy 64
17 Getting to know your medications 74
18 Psychotherapy 93
19 Managing your triggers 104
10 Catching symptoms early 120
11 Support and activity strategies when becoming
depressed 128
12 Helpful thinking strategies to reduce depression 140
13 Reducing suicide risk 159
14 Managing warning symptoms of hypomania or mania 171
VII
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LIVING WITH BIPOLAR
15 Preventing damage and boosting your coping skills 184
16 Monitoring your bipolar disorder 196
17 Planning to prevent or reduce relapse 211
18 Maintaining a healthy lifestyle 225
19 Maintaining close relationships 240
20 You and your doctor 257
21 Someone I care about has bipolar disorder 266
Glossary 280
Bibliography 286
Index 292
VIII
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1
TABLES
AND
FIGURES
Figure 1.1 Bipolar I disorder 7
Figure 1.2 Bipolar II disorder 8
Figure 1.3 Cyclothymic disorder 9
Table 6.1 Tony’s pros and cons 66
Table 7.1 Managing side effects of lithium 84
Figure 8.1 Negative thinking 97
Figure 8.2 Changing thinking and behaviour 98
Figure 9.1a Drawing your life chart 117
Figure 9.1b Mixed episode 118
Figure 9.2 Wendy’s life chart 119
Figure 11.1 The lethargy cycle 133
Table 12.1 Helpful thought summary 147
Table 12.2 Kathy’s helpful thought summary 150
Figure 13.1 Jane’s suicide risk prevention plan 168
Figure 14.1 The activity cycle 174
Table 16.1 Madison’s mood chart 200
Table 16.2 John’s mood and activity schedule 207
Table 16.3 Fred’s warning signs of depression 208
IX