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(44 reviews)
Editorial Review: The Bipolar Advantage is a revelation. It is one man's journey through the darkness and light of the bipolar condition to a place of spiritual joy, functionality and excellence that holds lessons for everyone with a diagnosis of bipolar. Raw, honest and brazen, The Bipolar Advantage draws its examples from the real-life experiences of its author, other people with a bipolar diagnosis and those who have relationships with bipolar people. Pulling no punches, Tom Wootton paints a realistic picture of the bipolar condition in its many faces, then gently guides the reader through the steps necessary to lead an introspective life that greatly ameliorates those symptoms, with the ultimate goal of helping bipolar people gain control of their lives.
Tom takes the reader on a journey through the good and bad aspects of bipolar, transforming negatives into positives and nurturing a mental environment where bipolar people can reshape their views of their condition and move fluidly from con...
Customer Reviews:
1 of 1 found this review helpful:
A terrific book, 2008-06-04
The title of the book initially put me off. It was recommended by a friend. As I read it, and recognized the bare-all honesty, down-to-earth reality that is bipolar, I found hope in the pages. I learned practical ways to use aspects of bipolar disorder to help my life. Solid suggestions to make my life better. It's not a dry textbook like a lot of books about bipolar are. It's a real life testimony of how one man makes it work. I am grateful for it.
2 of 2 found this review helpful:
I AM NOT BAD!!!!! HONOR DIVERSITY!!!!!!!!, 2008-04-10
Iam 60 years old and just learned I am Bipolar because one of my sons is.I raised 3 teenage sons as a single parent. I was the Black Sheep of my original family. Sure, this fellar is out there sometimes but we are supposed to be. God wants us to be what he meant us to be... that is different. WE ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE THE SAME. AND HE WANTS US TO ENJOY WHAT HE GAVE US!!! I DO ALLOW MYSELF TO ENJOY AND I ALLOW OTHERS TO ENJOY BEING DIFFERENT. I do not feel the badness in me now. I used to tell my mom at 3 years old, I'm just NO GOOD! I never knew why I felt so BAD. Also the author would be voted into office if everyone knew the SECRET HE TELLS ON HOW TO LOSE WEIGHT!!! Tricking your body DOES WORK! I lost 53 pounds and being BiPolar I like the tricking part and that is OK. You be you and I'll be me. It is just a different POINT OF VIEW.
Trish McKown
4 of 4 found this review helpful:
Learning to Love Despite Everything, 2008-03-08
I cannot tell you how excited I was to happen upon the book THE BIPOLAR ADVANTAGE. The idea that someone had written a book with that title seemed enough, but I figured since Tom Wootton had gone to the trouble to write and publish more than just that phrase, I should give a read to something as dear to my heart as what was implied by his title.
I am a 56-year-old, 6' 11" (sic), bipolar, gay male. I was first diagnosed in 1978 at the age of 28 (and committed), and later (1990) jailed for 14 weeks until my parents hired a lawyer who filed a Writ of Habeas Corpus to force the judge to deal with my case. That was it. I resolved to take care of myself, and I have not lapsed once since then.
The two bipolar support groups I joined in 1990 were composed almost exclusively of people who jumped on each other to hear the latest rumors of new medications that might "cure" all their ills. They gave nary a thought to how changing their habits of thought might help in the meantime, regardless the degree of effectiveness of their current medication. While my heart went out to them, it was too depressing for me to continue with them. (I'm very glad to read that Tom's experience/work with support groups has been so much better than this.) I also found the published literature to dwell on the down side almost exclusively. This was not good enough for me.
I had already studied New Thought: thoughts become things--a new one can change your life--and later the Abraham-Hicks spiritual material, and have based my pragmatic beliefs/approach on their ideas that resonated with me. I have begun work on a memoir about my own experience. Like Tom's, my mind-work rests on a foundation of proper medical care and medication--something I learned the hard way by trying it first without proper care and having my life blow up completely. My adventures include delusions and adventures/misadventures proportional to my height--but reading about Tom's adventures, you might think he is taller than I am.
However, have you ever seen a sex-crazed, 7-foot giant in high mania?
Four years ago, after 14 years of feeling trapped by my illness, I decided that despite everything, I would have to learn to trust myself and follow my dream--to write. So through a lot of mental work in line with Tom's exercises (which I had not yet come across), eight drafts, and 3.5 years, I taught myself to write and completed a manuscript on a different subject. I now have an agent trying to sell that book to a publisher.
I have been so encouraged by discovering THE BIPOLAR ADVANTAGE and the positive, practical emphasis of the book--as well as what I have read on Tom's website about his workshops and lectures. I have begun some of Tom's exercises--they fit perfectly with what I've already proven to myself, and are the perfect step for me to take now. There really is an advantage to bipolar illness, and Tom's book is both a chronicle of his groundbreaking personal turn-around and a practical guide to the beginning of the adventure of a fulfilling life that awaits those who learn to love themselves--and their illness.
4 of 4 found this review helpful:
One man's positive insight into mental illness, 2008-01-07
This book gave me one man's positive insight into living with a mental illess, which usually is a sentence to a life of pain and confusion. Tom Wootton realizes that there is a reason for everything and everyone in this universe, it's up to us to find how to cope and enjoy ourselves and others in our lives.
3 of 3 found this review helpful:
Interesting concept, 2007-12-18
Tom Wootton's personal experience of bipolar and his career path have led him on an interesting road to discovery, recovery and wellness. Quite a good read with lots of food for thought. Along with the right medications and treatments there's something in his theories to really think about. Enjoy the read on your road to recovery!
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