Download Manic A Memoir edition by Terri Cheney Health Fitness Dieting eBooks

Product details File Size 361 KB Print Length 274 pages Publisher HarperCollins e-books; Reprint edition (October 13, 2009) Publication Date October 13, 2009 Sold by  Digital Services LLC Language English ASIN B00134XERS

Manic A Memoir edition by Terri Cheney Health Fitness Dieting eBooks Reviews

• Writing about mental illness is always a challenge. Trying to explain what is going on in your head when you're riding a manic high can involve some scary things. Trying to write about the highs and lows of bipolar disorder in words that make non-suffers understand is not easy. As someone who has been bipolar for more than thirty years, I know first hand how tough it is to try and explain the ups and downs in ways that don't trivialize the wave of emotions, or doesn't reduce the feelings to trite catch phrases. I think that Cheney does a very good job of capturing the frantic, frenzied thoughts of a manic high. Cheney writes in a way that almost emulates the waves of ups and downs, the disjointed and scattered thinking. A few commenters have said the book jumps around a lot -- and, honestly, a lot of bipolar thoughts are like that. They jump around, race at speeds so fast you can't keep up, and make sense to no one but you. Cheney is very good at capturing those moments in words.
  
  But, I would also caution people who don't have experience with bipolar disorder from reading this book as a "universal" experience. Mental illness, like most other things in life, varies from person to person. Some people with bipolar can be wildly out-of-control, while others can be more in control. Some people with bipolar become addicts (in fact, for a long time, one had to be an addict to be diagnosed as manic depressive -- the old term for bipolar.) I was never addicted to drugs, and have a few bipolar friends who also never did drugs -- but I also have some bipolar friends who were serious drug addicts, who still slip into drugs from time to time. So to pick up Cheney's book and think that her story is the same as every other manic-depressive's story is wrong. It is now known that bipolar covers a broad spectrum (it is now commonly referred to as Bipolar Spectrum Disorder) as symptoms and behaviors can vary from person to person. When I was younger, I was never diagnosed as bipolar because the DSM criteria said that your manic 'highs' lasted 7 days, and were fueled by drugs. It's now known that many people rapid cycle -- I've become more a much more rapid cycler as I've gotten older. When I was in my teens, my manic highs would last 3 or 4 days at the most (my depressions lasted much longer); as I've gotten older, my mood cycles are much faster. There are days where I can go from a manic high to a crushing depression in a matter of hours. So, while it should be kept in mind that Cheney's bipolar disorder is different from mine, they still have much in common the hypomania, the hyper-sexualness, the suicidal ideation, to name just a few commonalities.
  
  Cheney's book offers a very good glimpse into the mind of someone with bipolar disorder, but is not representative of all people with the illness. She offers insight and candor, but for some, her actions may seem extreme. At the risk of being very repetitive one person's bipolar symptoms can be very different from another person's -- but that doesn't make one person's symptoms more valid than another's. There was much in Cheney's book that I could relate to, even if my episodes were never as high-watt as hers. I respect her for sharing her story, because it helps to strip away the mystery of a strange mental illness.
  
  I will agree with many of the commenters that Cheney does spend a great deal of time talking about her red hair and can sometimes seem like she's flaunting her wealth. But, at the same time, I know that when anyone tells their story, they speak about the world they know -- Cheney's just happens to be a world with money. Still ... there may be one too many mentions of it.
  
  I'd disagree with those who mention that she's overly-dramatic. Extreme bipolar manic episodes can be very dramatic. While my own episodes have not been as dramatic, I've seen several manic episodes that make Cheney's "overly dramatic" episodes seem boring by comparison. Again, bipolar is a spectrum disorder, and the array and intensity of episodes varies from person to person. So while I may think she flaunts her upper-class status a bit, I'm not going to judge her because her symptoms are more intense than mine.
  
  Overall, this is a well-written book about a topic that can be tough to explain. I mentioned at the beginning that Cheney's writing is often fast-flowing and disjointed, but that's how the manic mind can be when it's running at high speed. If you've never had your thoughts run around like that, the book can seem disjointed, so think of the disjointedness as a learning experience, as a way to see how thoughts can race and jump around when one is on a manic high.
  
  I've used this book as a way to share my own experience with others -- I've highlighted numerous passages, and made lots of margin notes -- some agreeing with Cheney, some not. Between her words and my notes, I've been able to explain my own experience to friends and family.
• I'm still unsure about how I feel about this book. It was an interesting read, but at times the author seems either manic or conceited as she boasts of her privileged life and belongings. She mentions numerous times how she spends her wealth, and how attractive men find her size six figure to be. I'm not sure if she realizes this is off-putting to the reader, or she just doesn't care. What I did like about the book is that she can describe depression so clearly, and how depression can be so overwhelming that she didn't even have the energy to attempt suicide until a manic phase of the cycle begun. I also appreciated her noting of the stigma of mental illness where she acknowledges she did not use her firm's insurance initially to treat her illness, instead she paid thousands annually to keep her illness secret so she would not jeopardize her standing in her firm. She notes that the firm interviewed a potential client for an expert witness and when the client said he needed to take his lithium, the firm quickly dismissed him and had her give him an excuse as to why they went with someone else. If you can get past her weirdly placed name brand name dropping and self-adoration, this is an excellent memoir for those interested in the field of psychology or counseling.
• This book is educational, personal and skillfully crafted. I have always been interested in how people cope with pain . I was a hospital chaplain and learned so much from patients. But when our 25-yr-old grandson hung himself in his bedroom closet two years ago, the world became a frightening place for me. This book helped me understand his battle and why he lost it. Thank you, Terri Cheney.
• I love that Cheney is a voice for the many suffering with this complicated disorder. Her memoir shines so much light on the disease and experiences with the mental health system.
  
  The fact that she is a high powered Entertainment lawyer who drives a porsche and wears Chanel Ballet flats & Armani Suits proves that mental illness does not discriminate and affects all classes of society.
  
  I could relate to her stories of navigating life in L.A. which by itself is its own insanity. She vacations in Big Sur, California.
  
  Cheney raises very important questions about the state of mental health care services in America today. In one story, she is subjected to being restrained for hours and inevitably peeing on herself even asking the doctors to release her. These kinds of abuses are disgusting and inhumane.
  
  She discusses her trials with various types of medications and different psychiatrists. I really admired her in depth analysis of the varying states of bipolar from mixed phaases to hypomania. This disorder is often very complex and in my opinion very much often misdiagnoses as a result. Cheney enlightens the average person in a way which frankly most doctors seem incapable of grasping.
  
  She talks about the seductive personality of mania, the self destructive behaviors of impulsivity.
  
  Overall she spends a lot of her time observing her moods to try to understand when a bipolar episode is coming on.
  
  This is a great book for anyone who has struggled with mental illness or those who offer support to people who do. A must read for all psychiatric professionals.
• Thank you for this. I am currently supporting a close family member who deals with many of the symptoms you have described in this book. It helped me to understand this illness and to have hope that it can be controlled and that mental illness doesn't have to define you. Thank you.