Maricela Estrada was raised in East Los Angeles by her widowed traditional Mexican mother. The author felt depressed most of her life and missed having a father. Her first suicide attempt happened at age 14 and she survived multiple suicide attempts. After high school, Maricela had a psychotic episode and was admitted into a psychiatric hospital, where she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder with psychotic features. She felt stigmatized and was in denial about her mental illness. Accepting it was the hardest thing she has ever done. But once she accepted it, her life changed in a beautiful way, allowing her to accomplish all her goals and embrace a beautiful life. Maricela’s mental health recovery came through medication, therapy, attending support groups, prayer, emotional support from family and friends, and her emotional support dog, Gypsy Blue. Bipolar Girl is an inspiring story of one woman’s journey through mental health recovery. This memoir demonstrates the true meaning of hope, resiliency, and faith, and it will touch many people’s lives.

Mark and Giulia's life together began as a storybook romance. They fell in love at eighteen, married at twenty-four, and were living their dream life in San Francisco. When Giulia was twenty-seven, she suffered a terrifying and unexpected psychotic break that landed her in the psych ward for nearly a month. One day she was vibrant and well-adjusted; the next she was delusional and suicidal, convinced that she was the devil and that her loved ones were not safe. All she wanted was to die. Eventually, Giulia fully recovered, and the couple had a son. But, soon after Jonas was born, Giulia had another breakdown, and then a third a few years after that. pushed to the edge of the abyss, everything the couple had once taken for granted was upended. A story of the fragility of the mind, and the tenacity of the human spirit, My Lovely Wife is, above all, a love story that raises profound questions: How do we care for the people we love? What and who do we live for? Breathtaking in its candor, radiant with compassion, and written with dazzling lyricism, Lukach's is an intensely personal odyssey through the harrowing years of his wife's mental illness, anchored by an abiding devotion to family that will affirm readers' faith in the power of love.

Maintaining a relationship is hard enough without the added challenges of your partner’s bipolar disorder symptoms. Loving Someone with Bipolar Disorder offers information and step-by-step advice for helping your partner manage mood swings and impulsive actions, allowing you to finally focus on enjoying your relationship while also taking time for yourself. This book explains the symptoms of your partner’s disorder and offers strategies for preventing them and responding to these symptoms when they do occur. This updated edition includes a new section about the medications your partner may be taking so that you can understand the side effects and help monitor his or her bipolar treatment. As a supportive partner, you deserve support yourself. This book will help you create a more balanced, fulfilling relationship. Improve your relationship by learning how to: • Identify your partner’s symptom triggers so you can prevent episodes • Improve communication by stopping irrational “bipolar conversations” • Handle your partner’s emotional ups and downs • Foster closeness and connection with your partner

"Maricela tells it all and offers hope to anyone who's felt alone. A must read for anyone LGBT grappling with mental health issues." - Muffy Walker, co-founder and chairman of the International Bipolar Foundation Beautiful Bipolar Bisexual is an inspirational story about a woman living with bipolar disorder and the challenges she faces when she comes out of the closet. Maricela's strong faith in God helped her cope with mental illness, but when she discovers her true sexual orientation, she wonders if God still loves her. The author's life spirals out of control when her former boyfriend is murdered. Maricela always thought living with mental illness was the hardest thing she ever faced, but coming out of the closet was just as hard, and she struggles being accepted by her religious Catholic mother. Her pain becomes unbearable after her beloved girlfriend, Caylee, is diagnosed with untreatable lung cancer. Maricela decides if her girlfriend dies, she will kill herself too so they can be together forever in heaven. Surviving suicide made her realize that she would not let mental illness destroy her life. Hope came when she least expected it. Maricela's mental health recovery was through medication, therapy, support groups, spirituality, art, music, her service dog, and positive support from loved ones. Maricela Estrada is the author of Bipolar Girl: My Psychotic Self. She earned a BA in communications from California State University Fullerton. She works as a medical case worker for the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health. She is a mental health recovery speaker, dedicated to raising public awareness and decreasing the stigma associated with mental illness. Publisher's website: http: //sbprabooks.com/MaricelaEstrada

Revised and updated, Take Charge of Bipolar Disorder is a groundbreaking, comprehensive program to help those with bipolar disorder—and those who care about them—gain permanent control over their lives. Most people diagnosed with bipolar disorder are sent home with the name of a doctor and multiple prescriptions. However, few people with bipolar disorder are able to find long-term stability with medications alone. Bipolar disorder researcher and expert Julie A. Fast, who was diagnosed with the illness at age thirty-one, and specialist John Preston, PsyD, offer the pioneering Take Charge program used around the world to help readers promote stability, reduce mood swings, increase work ability, decrease health care costs, and improve relationships. The book guides those with bipolar disorder and their loved ones toward a comprehensive personal treatment plan by incorporating: Medications and bipolar-safe supplements Lifestyle changes that help manage bipolar symptoms naturally Behavior modifications that reduce and prevent symptoms Guidelines on assembling an effective support team By helping readers gather powerful strategies, Take Charge of Bipolar Disorder delivers a dynamic program to treat this difficult but ultimately manageable illness.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A deeply powerful memoir about bipolar illness that has both transformed and saved lives—with a new preface by the author. Dr. Jamison is one of the foremost authorities on manic-depressive (bipolar) illness; she has also experienced it firsthand. For even while she was pursuing her career in academic medicine, Jamison found herself succumbing to the same exhilarating highs and catastrophic depressions that afflicted many of her patients, as her disorder launched her into ruinous spending sprees, episodes of violence, and an attempted suicide. Here Jamison examines bipolar illness from the dual perspectives of the healer and the healed, revealing both its terrors and the cruel allure that at times prompted her to resist taking medication.

David Likes to Play with Dolls is a children’s book about acceptance, kindness, and unconditional love. Its important message is that children’s toys should be for everyone, and that a child’s gender shouldn’t determine what toys they must play with. The story was inspired by the author’s nephew David, and his childhood joy of playing with his sister Caroline’s dolls. As a bright-eyed, joyful little boy, in his heart all he wanted was to be accepted by others. Playing with dolls made him happy, because he simply didn’t like the “boy toys,” consisting of cars and trucks. One day David’s sister can’t find her Gypsy Fairy Queen doll. Caroline looks in every room in the house, only to find that David has been playing with her dolls and toys. She becomes very upset with him, until she realizes that her brother should be able to play with any toys he enjoys.

With candor and humor, a manic-depressive Iranian-American Muslim woman chronicles her experiences with both clinical and cultural bipolarity. Born to Persian parents at the height of the Islamic Revolution and raised amid a vibrant, loving, and gossipy Iranian diaspora in the American heartland, Melody Moezzi was bound for a bipolar life. At 18, she began battling a severe physical illness, and her community stepped up, filling her hospital rooms with roses, lilies and hyacinths. But when she attempted suicide and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, there were no flowers. Despite several stays in psychiatric hospitals, bombarded with tranquilizers, mood-stabilizers, and anti-psychotics, she was encouraged to keep her illness a secret—by both her family and an increasingly callous and indifferent medical establishment. Refusing to be ashamed or silenced, Moezzi became an outspoken advocate, determined to fight the stigma surrounding mental illness and reclaim her life along the way. Both an irreverent memoir and a rousing call to action, Haldol and Hyacinths is the moving story of a woman who refused to become a victim. Moezzi reports from the frontlines of an invisible world, as seen through a unique and fascinating cultural lens. A powerful, funny, and moving narrative, Haldol and Hyacinths is a tribute to the healing power of hope and humor.

My Kind of Crazy was chosen as Honorable Mention in the Writer's Digest 17th Annual International Self-Published Book Awards in the Inspirational category.I am an expert on being crazy. My kind of crazy is known as bipolar disorder. Although my case is more severe than most, I am not alone. I am one in four (approximately 61.5 million) adult Americans who suffer from a mental illness in a given year. This is a staggering statistic, and yet the stigma attached to mental illness persists. Those diagnosed with a mental illness suffer in silence due to the shame associated with it. There are many books that approach the subject from a clinical and/or psychoanalytical perspective. My book, however, focuses on the human experience of living with a mental illness. Being bipolar brings with it the very highs and lows of emotion, and my story is written in the same way. The journey on which I take the reader is not a depressing one. There is much humor to be found and many lessons to be learned after one is diagnosed as crazy. I bring the reader with me on the emotional rollercoaster that is my life. With my story, I hope to dismantle the shame and isolation that one with a similar illness might experience. In fact, I believe one must embrace his or her inner-craziness in order to heal, evolve, and move forward to help change the societal perception of mental illness. Not unlike diabetes, mental illness should be understood on a biochemical level, not be viewed as a character flaw. When the brain gets sick, it exhibits symptoms that need to be addressed and managed just like any other illness.

Schizophrenia and bipolar disorder together affect 65 million people worldwide. A first-hand account, Life After Psychosis will help those who have survived psychosis, their families, and mental health professionals better understand psychotic illness and how one can recover. All aspects of life with a psychotic illness are addressed, including: • Medication • Financial issues • Work • Relationships • Stigma It is possible to enjoy life after psychosis. Understanding, knowledge, professional help, and support during and after recovery will help those who suffer from a psychotic illness and aid them on their journey to wellness. This book provides hope, encouragement, and a companion on that journey.