Welcome to the jungle : everything you ever wanted to know about bipolar but were too freaked out to ask

Going bravely where no other bipolar book has gone before, here Hilary Smith offers devastatingly on-target, honest--and riotously funny--insights into living with bipolar and answers some of the hardest questions facing her fellow bipolaristas: Can anything ever be the same again? Am I still __me__ if I take mind-altering meds? Can other people tell I have bipolar? Can I get this thing removed?Bipolar is one of the most commonly diagnosed psychiatric conditions among teens and twenty-somethings--yet there are very few books out there written specifically for teens and twenty-somethings experiencing mental illness for the first time. __Welcome to the Jungle__ (Conari Press, May 2010) fills that gap with its upfront, empowering approach to the challenges of being diagnosed with bipolar. Both humorous and immensely honest, it offers a true "in the trenches" perspective readers will trust. With chapters ranging from __What Just Happened?: Life Beyond The Diagnosis__ to __Here Be Downers: Drugs, Booze, and Suicide__ to __Hippy Shit That Actually Works: Herbs, Wilderness Time, and Other Ways to Help Keep Your Shit Together__ to __Hell is Finding Good Insurance: How to Get Your Ass Covered in Troubled Times__, Smith brings bipolar self help to the street level.

Bipolar is one of the most commonly diagnosed emotional/psychiatric condition and diagnosis tends to come when one is in one's late teens or early 20s. And yet almost nothing has been written about it from eye level and a young person's perspective. Welcome to the Jungle fills that gap with its upfront, empowering approach to the challenges of being diagnosed bipolar. Both humorous and immensely honest, it offers a true "in the trenches" perspective young readers will trust.

With chapters ranging from What Just Happened?:Life Beyond Diagnosis to Here Be Downers: Drugs, Booze, and Suicide to Hippy Shit That Actually Works: Herbs, Wilderness Time, and Other Ways to Help Keep Your Shit Together to Hell is Finding Good Insurance: How to Get Your Ass Covered in Troubled Times, Smith brings bipolar self help to the street level.

Library Journal

Smith, editor of The Med Magazine, an online satire magazine aimed at young people with mental illness, provides a new guide to bipolar disorder that specifically targets the youth market. One of the more common psychiatric conditions, bipolar disorder tends to be diagnosed in one's late teens or early twenties. Smith, diagnosed at 19, here reveals her frustration with the available works, which treated the disorder clinically and missed her particular interests and concerns. This led her to write this hip and often humorous work. In sensible language pulled directly from the vernacular of today's youth, Smith provides solid information on dealing with the initial diagnosis, what to expect from the typical cycles of mania and depression, understanding today's new medications, finding the most appropriate psychiatrist, maintaining one's cool during the tough times, avoiding drugs and alcohol, managing the disorder while working or in school, and dealing with friends and family. Also included are helpful web sites tailored to younger readers. VERDICT Among the wealth of works on bipolar, this title (wisely pulled from a Guns N' Roses lyric) nicely stands out as a super reference for younger readers interested in or actually experiencing bipolar disorder and is also a valuable resource for professionals.—Dale Farris, Groves, TX

An honest, relatable guide that can help you figure out how to live your life with bipolar disorder, from a bipolar author. Welcome to the Jungle focuses on bipolar people, not the diagnosis: the ways in which each person can find his or her own way through the extreme emotional states and intense experiences that we are calling “bipolar” —whether that means medication or meditation, psychiatrists or vision quests, good sleep or good all-night dancing, or a little bit of everything. Many bipolar books are too clinical, too alarmist, and too clearly written for family members and caretakers of people diagnosed with this mood disorder. Welcome to the Jungle is different. Author Hilary Smith wrote this guide because it is the book she wishes she’d been given when she was first diagnosed with bipolar disorder. It answers questions, points to resources, and most of all, comes from someone who understands what it’s like to be thrown off course by an overwhelming mental health issue—and what to do afterwards. Just like for everyone else, there are many, many paths that bipolar people can take in life. Learn more about how to live your own life with a mental illness using the help of the insights in Welcome to the Jungle, which covers topics such as: Wrapping your head around triggers, causes of mood swings, medications, and therapists Recovering from mental breakdowns, manic moments, and major depressive episodes Living your life beyond the diagnosis—and helping your family to do the same This book is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent any illness or act as a substitute for advice from a doctor or psychiatrist. Praise for Welcome to the Jungle “Among the wealth of works on bipolar, this title (wisely pulled from a Guns N’ Roses lyric) nicely stands out as a super reference for younger readers interested in or actually experiencing bipolar disorder and is also a valuable resource for professionals.” —Library Journal Going bravely where no other bipolar book has gone before, here Hilary Smith offers devastatingly on-target, honest--and riotously funny--insights into living with bipolar and answers some of the hardest questions facing her fellow bipolaristas: Can anything ever be the same again? Am I still me if I take mind-altering meds? Can other people tell I have bipolar? Can I get this thing removed? Bipolar is one of the most commonly diagnosed psychiatric conditions among teens and twenty-somethings--yet there are very few books out there written specifically for teens and twenty-somethings experiencing mental illness for the first time. Welcome to the Jungle (Conari Press, May 2010) fills that gap with its upfront, empowering approach to the challenges of being diagnosed with bipolar. Both humorous and immensely honest, it offers a true "in the trenches" perspective readers will trust. With chapters ranging from What Just Happened?: Life Beyond The Diagnosis to Here Be Downers: Drugs, Booze, and Suicide to Hippy Shit That Actually Works: Herbs, Wilderness Time, and Other Ways to Help Keep Your Shit Together to Hell is Finding Good Insurance: How to Get Your Ass Covered in Troubled Times , Smith brings bipolar self help to the street level. Bipolar is currently the most commonly diagnosed emotional/psychiatric condition, and diagnosis tends to come when one is in one's late teens or early 20s. And yet almost nothing has been written about it from eye level and a young person's perspective. This book brilliantly fills that gap. "When I was diagnosed at age 19, my parents went to a bookstore and bought me a pile of books about bipolar. I threw them away in disgust (actually, exchanged them for books of poetry)?not because I wasn't curious about bipolar, but because all the books treated the subject with clinical rubber gloves. They were dry, annoying, and made me feel like a disease, not a person. I wrote this book because it's the book I should have been given when I was diagnosed." With chapters of advice on everything from how to get off the floor after the blow of a bipolar diagnosis to how to think about psychiatry and manage your meds to how to deal with thoughts of suicide to "hippy shit" like meditation, herbs, and other non-medical bipolar helpers to navigating the healthcare system, this is the first self-help book by a bipolar young adult to other bipolar young adults Bipolar is one of the most commonly diagnosed psychiatric conditions among teens and twentysomethingsyet there are very few books out there written specifically for young people experiencing mental illness for the first time. Welcome to the Jungle (Conari Press, May 2010) fills that gap with its upfront, empowering approach to the challenges of being diagnosed with bipolar. Both humorous and immensely honest, it offers a true "in the trenches" perspective young readers will trust. With chapters ranging from What Just Happened?: Life Beyond Diagnosis to Here Be Downers: Drugs, Booze, and Suicide to Hippy Shit That Actually Works: Herbs, Wilderness Time, and Other Ways to Help Keep Your Shit Together to Hell is Finding Good Insurance: How to Get Your Ass Covered in Troubled Times , Smith brings bipolar self help to the street level.