"Bipolar" means more than mood swings and chemical imbalances. It is a genetic brain regulation malfunction causing not only mood but behavioral symptoms. Severity and symptoms vary along a spectrum of disease presentations, from a happy, positive personality, to a moody temperament, to chronic and recurrent depressions, to classic manic-depressive illness. It is a chronic disease with periods of illness as well as remission. Keeping the disease under control requires daily maintenance and vigilance for emerging symptoms.

The goal of this book is to help the bipolar person successfully manage his or her illness and live a full and meaningful life. First, the reader will learn all about bipolar disorder: how it presents, how it is diagnosed, how it is passed down in families, and how it affects women as compared to men. Next, the various types of treatment and the logistics of daily maintenance are discussed in detail. Finally, the advantages and disadvantages of bipolar disorder are explored and the lives of interesting and outstanding historical and current bipolar individuals are examined.