Mindfulness Bipolar

When bipolar disorder afflicts the person you love, you suffer too. How have other couples learned to manage the relationship strains caused by this illness? What can you do to provide your partner with truly helpful nurturance and support? No one cares more deeply about these questions than Dr. Cynthia Last, a highly regarded therapist/researcher who also has bipolar disorder.

Does it feel as though you are on a wild roller-coaster ride of emotions due to your interactions with someone who has been diagnosed as being bipolar? Are you feeling frustrated, sad, lonely, angry, depressed, and hurt because of the situation you've found yourself in with this person you so desperately love? Are you exhausted from focusing all of your attention on what the sick person is doing all of the time?

As it had for generations before her, a heaviness hung over Monica A. Coleman throughout her young life. As an adult, this rising star in the academy saw career successes often fueled by the modulated highs of undiagnosed bipolar disorder, as she hid deep depression that even her doctors skimmed past in disbelief. Serendipitous encounters with Black intellectuals like Henry Louis Gates Jr., Angela Davis, and Renita Weems were countered by long nights of stark loneliness. Only as Coleman began to face her illness was she able to live honestly and faithfully in the world.

Traditional therapy and medications have taken you as far as they can, but you still live in fear of that next relapse. You diligently manage your life to avoid a manic or depressive episode, yet you can’t become the person you know you truly are. If your body, mind, and soul are crying out for relief, and you dream of a day when your mental illness no longer controls you, then This Is Me, Bipolar-Free is the beacon of hope you've been searching for.