This list of books has been prepared by the NAMI NC office staff. 

If you want to purchase any book from Amazon.com, simply click on the book title to go to the Amazon.com page for that book.  NAMI NC will receive a rebate on any books purchased this way. (You may want to go to Amazon.com just to get more information about any book)

---------------------------- Categories --------------------------------

Bipolar Disorder     Children      Depression      Medications      OCD     

Policy       Rights      Schizophrenia

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Bipolar Disorder

We heard the Angels of Madness: A FamilyGuide to Coping with Manic Depression.  Berger, Lisa and Diane,  New York, NY: Quill Press: 1991.

This is the story of a young man who suffers from bipolar disorder, and how the illness affects his life and the lives of everyone around him. His mother narrates it, with his recalled thoughts entered throughout. His aunt, a registered nurse, writes several chapters discussing the medical aspects of the illness.

 

Bipolar Puzzle Solution.  Court, Brian L, Nelson, Gerald E.,  Accelerated Development: 1996.

Co-authored by consumer Brian Court and psychiatrist Gerald Nelson, this book brings all of the essential elements of recovery into one place, and it includes an easy-to-read question-and- answer format about subjects such as: employment, friends and family, disability, hospitalization, and more.

 

An Unquiet Mind.  Jamison, Kay Redfield.  New York, NY: Knopf: 1995.

Kay Redfield Jamison is an international authority on manic-depressive illness. This is a revelation of her own struggle since adolescence with manic depression, and how it shaped her life.

 

His Bright Light: The Nick Trania Story.  Steel, Danielle. New York, NY: Delacorte Press: 1998

Nick Trania lived for punk rock, succumbed to heroin addiction, and died of suicide. His mom, Danielle Steel, takes us through her 19 twister-like years with Nick in a moving memoir. Her son was haunted by manic depression. He first considered suicide at 13, as Steel learned by reading his diaries after his death.

 

I am Not Sick I Don't Need Help!  Xavier Amador.  Vida Press: 2000  

Fred Frese III, Phd. describes the book this way: At last we have a volume for those individuals most closely associated with the mentally ill. In a very readable fashion, Dr. Amador addresses the nature of patients' unawareness of their illness and their need for treatment. He also clearly outlines the relevant research and gives clear prescriptions to help families and therapists deal with patients' obliviousness to their condition. I strongly recommend this to families and therapists of individuals with serious mental illness.

 

 

Children

Taking Charge of ADHD: The Complete Authoritative Guide for ParentsBarkley, Russell A.  New York, NY: Guildford Press: 1995.

This book is unique in its up-to-date and clear presentation of the scientific basis the disorder and offers a down to earth approach to intervention.

 

It’s Nobody’s Fault: New Hope and Help for Difficult Children. Koplewicz, Harold S.  New York, NY:  Random House: 1996.

This guide for parents of troubled children provides compassionate advice on the diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis for thirteen psychological disorders, including ADD, depression, and anxiety, dispelling myths about medication and other available treatments.

 

Teaching the TigerDornbush, Marilyn and Pruitt, Sheryl. Duarte,  CA: Hope Press: 1995.

This book is an essential guide and resource for parents and school personnel working with children with these disabilities. Parents, teachers, social workers, psychologists, occupational therapists, all will gain valuable insight and techniques for helping these children.

 

The Explosive ChildGreene, Ross W.  New York, NY: HarperCollins: 1998.

A leading therapist offers a new approach to understanding and helping children who suffer intense temper outbursts, extreme noncompliance, and verbal and physical aggression.

 

The Bipolar ChildPapolos, Demitri and Janice.New York, NY: Broadway Books: 1999.

Explains childhood bipolar disorder using advances in neuroscience and genetics. Discusses how to obtain good treatment and medications, as well as introducing school advocacy.

 

Straight Talk about Psychiatric Medications for Kids. Wilens, Timothy E. New York, NY: Guilford Press: 1999.

Practical and useful, this book will strengthen parents' ability to understand the role that psychiatric medicines can play in their children's health and well being.

 

 

Depression

On the Edge of Darkness: Conversations about Conquering Depression. Cronkite, Kathy.  New York, NY: Doubleday: 1994.

Individuals, including notables such as Kitty Dukakis, Rona Barrett, William Styron and Rod Steiger as well as significant others of persons with depression along with medical professionals, discuss various aspects of living with depression and its ripple effect.

 

What to Do When Someone You Love is Depressed.  Mitch Golant, Susan K Golant.  Henry Holt: 1998.

An excellent and helpful book for families dealing with clinical depression.

 

Undercurrents: A Therapist’s Reckoning with Her Own Depression. Manning, Martha. New York, NY: Harper Collins: 1995.

As a wife, mother, and psychotherapist, Manning led a very full life--until depression engulfed and overwhelmed her. She details her experience with electroshock therapy, the treatment that delivered her from the brink of suicide.

 

The Beast: A Journey Through DepressionThompson, Tracy.  New York, NY: GP Putnam and Sons: 1996. 

A dispassionate account of a lifelong battle to survive a mental illness, by a journalist who helped herself become well -- one step at a time.

 

 

Medications

The Essential Guide to Psychiatric Drugs (3rd Ed).  Gorman, Jack. Bowen, J.  St. Martin's Press: 1996

A great reference book for consumers and families.

 

 

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

The Boy Who Couldn’t Stop Washing: The Experience and Treatment of Obsessive Compulsive DisorderRapoport, Judith.

OCD, a serious, emotionally crippling disease includes cleaning, counting, washing, checking, and avoiding. These are just some of the rituals that sufferers are powerless to stop. An expert on OCD reveals breakthroughs in diagnosis, successful new behaviorist therapies, drug treatments, and more.

 

 

Policy

Out of the Shadows: Confronting America’s Mental Illness Crisis. Torrey, E. Fuller.  New York, NY:  John Wiley and Sons, Inc.: 1997.

Torrey condemns way the mentally ill are treated in this country. He explains how deinstitutionalization is a curse to many of the most severely mentally ill, landing them in the streets. He takes us on a grim tour of the lives led by the mentally ill: untreated, homeless, jobless, and helpless against street violence. Torrey argues that the criteria for involuntary commitment should include the need for treatment.

 

 

Rights

The Rights of People with Mental DisabilitiesLevy, Robert M. and Rubenstein, Leonard S.  Carbondale, IL: 1996.

Statutes and discussion.

 

 

Schizphrenia

Surviving Schizophrenia, A Manual for Families, Consumers and Providers. Torrey, E. Fuller. HarperCollins: 1995.

The must have guide for consumers and family members of people with mental illness. Discusses symptoms, medications, treatment and prognosis of schizophrenia.

 

I am Not Sick I Don't Need Help! Xavier Amador.  Vida Press: 2000

See review under Bipolar disorder