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Rock Steady: Brilliant Advice from My Bipolar Life
Rock Steady: Brilliant Advice From My Bipolar Life is the eagerly awaited sequel/ companion book to Forney’s 2012 best-selling graphic memoir, Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo, and Me. Whereas Marbles was a memoir about her bipolar disorder, Rock Steady turns the focus outward, offering a self-help survival guide of tips, tricks and tools by someone who has been through it all and come through stronger for it.
179 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 15, 2018
87 people are currently reading
1677 people want to read
About the author
Ellen Forney
26 books258 followersEllen Forney grew up in Philadelphia and has lived in Seattle since 1989. She has been a professional cartoonist/ illustrator since 1992, and also sometimes paints, and dabbles in other artsy pursuits. She teaches Comics at Seattles Cornish College of the Arts. She drives a silver 1968 Mercury Cougar.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 162 reviews
May 20, 2018
Rock Steady is part two of Ellen Forney’s comics work dealing with her struggles with depression and bipolar disorder. Forney, whose I Love Led Zeppelin sort of signals one important aspect of her character and interest (I love Zep, too), also wrote Marbles: Mania, Depression, and Michelangelo about her personal struggles, which is a memoir meant to both educate and reach out to support fellow sufferers.
Rock Steady is meant to be less memoir and more educational, informative, on bi-polar disorder, which it seems clear one of my family is suffering through. A guide like this is directed to lend support to those with bi-polar disorder, or those who suffer from depression, or face struggles with mental illness generally. I would be glad for many more books like this that would help destigmatize mental illness and help people feel less isolated, give them a sense of self-efficacy. Comics can be entertainment, and they can be used for education and self-empowerment. Forney is funny and informal and entertaining even as she is deadly serious about what she—informed by a lot of research—has needed to survive and live life with the disorder. I learned a lot.
Rock Steady is meant to be less memoir and more educational, informative, on bi-polar disorder, which it seems clear one of my family is suffering through. A guide like this is directed to lend support to those with bi-polar disorder, or those who suffer from depression, or face struggles with mental illness generally. I would be glad for many more books like this that would help destigmatize mental illness and help people feel less isolated, give them a sense of self-efficacy. Comics can be entertainment, and they can be used for education and self-empowerment. Forney is funny and informal and entertaining even as she is deadly serious about what she—informed by a lot of research—has needed to survive and live life with the disorder. I learned a lot.
July 27, 2018
There are so many reasons to read this. Whether you’re personally dealing with some kind of mental health situation, you know someone who is, or just to gain knowledge in understanding what people are going through. The way Ellen Forney lays everything out is stellar. She is hilarious and lighthearted even when discussing some really heavy material. I took away so much from this and I couldn’t have read it at a better time.
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December 25, 2024personally enjoyed "marbles" more, but still helpful advice for those who need it!
July 22, 2018
Rock Steady was so much livelier, more entertaining, and more endearing than I ever expected it to be. I wanted to read this primarily because I enjoyed Forney's earlier, and related, comic Marbles, but given that this one is less a narrative and more a self-help/advice book, I didn't expect to get through it so quickly and enjoy it so much. I think this book is going to help a lot of people—in fact, pretty early on I started feeling guilty for being first on the library holds list and potentially keeping this book from someone who could really use it. Now that I'm finished, I'll return it posthaste so it can get started on all the good work it's clearly going to do out in the world.
June 10, 2019
Such a great book with gentle, non-judgmental, inspiring advice and coping strategies for dealing with mental illness. Forney has bipolar so that's the focus of the book, but as someone with anxiety and a bit of depression, I still found a lot of the tips applicable and helpful. Her writing is down-to-earth and funny and her illustrations are cute and emotionally spot-on. I borrowed this from the library, but it's definitely one I will be buying!
June 30, 2018
Forney bravely shares terrific information about her strategies for maintaining stability of her bipolar condition, many of which can be applied to a variety of mood disorders or even just the general challenges of life. The format comes off as a pretty energetic and readable PowerPoint presentation. My one disappointment is that the book is pretty text heavy; Forney is an amazing cartoonist, and I was hoping to see her art featured front and center instead of being used more like spot illustrations throughout. Still, this is a strong follow-up to Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo, and Me.
May 8, 2021
Rock steady takes the dense (often boring) advice found in other "self-help" books for bipolar disorder and adds her own flair and artistry. I would recommend giving this one a read if you would like a reminder and a fresh look at how to care for yourself, whether you are newly diagnosed or years into euthymia.
Read these books anywhere you can be cozy and vulnerable.
Read these books anywhere you can be cozy and vulnerable.
April 6, 2023
Great advice for those with bipolar and depression. I loved the comic art along side the information.
August 22, 2018
This is a followup to Forney’s earlier book, Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michaelangelo, & Me. That book was autobiographical in nature, dealing with her personal experience with being bipolar. Rock Steady, as the jacket indicates, is more of a self help book. Forney gives suggestions and advice for maintaining an even keel based on her own experience and research.
While I certainly enjoyed reading this book, I’d say it's probably my least favorite of Forney’s books. To be fair, I'm not really in its intended audience (that I know of.) I imagine that a person struggling with depression or bipolarity or something similar would find this book invaluable. Me, I'm approaching it simply as a fan of Forney’s cartooning skills, and there's really not much of that on display here. The book is really more text interspersed with drawings rather than cartoons all the way through. It works, in this case, because of all the information that needs to be gotten across. If Forney was literally conveying everything in the form of cartoons, this book would be three times as long.
There's good, solid, valuable advice here. For that--and not so much the cartooning--it’s highly recommended!
While I certainly enjoyed reading this book, I’d say it's probably my least favorite of Forney’s books. To be fair, I'm not really in its intended audience (that I know of.) I imagine that a person struggling with depression or bipolarity or something similar would find this book invaluable. Me, I'm approaching it simply as a fan of Forney’s cartooning skills, and there's really not much of that on display here. The book is really more text interspersed with drawings rather than cartoons all the way through. It works, in this case, because of all the information that needs to be gotten across. If Forney was literally conveying everything in the form of cartoons, this book would be three times as long.
There's good, solid, valuable advice here. For that--and not so much the cartooning--it’s highly recommended!
March 7, 2021
What a great resource. Fun and funny illustrations, but so much helpful information and advice here. Forney just a great job sharing self-care advice, medical/professional resources, and tools that can help bipolar lives. The great thing about this book is that there are self-care tips that can help all. I read this for my university's D.E.I. Reading Challenge and I will eagerly recommend it to others.
February 13, 2022
What a gift! It's a fairly accessible and multifaceted read about managing mood disorders. I appreciated the specificity of Forney's advice, as well as her ability to weave together her comics, lived experience, and empirical research in one package. Highly recommend and will be purchasing for my future (current??) therapist library.
April 10, 2021
I read this for writing research purposes and it was pretty helpful. For someone new to a bipolar disorder diagnosis, this would be immensely helpful.
November 2, 2019
Forney was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 1998. It took her years to get stable, but she managed it. After she published Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo, & Me (which I haven't read), comments from readers inspired her to write this book.
I requested this in order to read up on mental health-related graphic novels for work. This was much more text-heavy than I expected - not so much fun to read cover-to-cover, which I needed to do fairly quickly in order to finish it in time to write up some impressions for coworkers. But I'll admit that I got through it more quickly and easily than I probably would have if it had been a more traditional self-help book. The large comic-style text and illustrations were appealing and usually easy to follow.
Forney covered lots of topics: different therapy options, coping tools, dealing with insomnia (or the opposite, hypersomnia), dealing with meds (tips for remembering to take them, traveling with meds, side effects), identifying your warning signs, and the importance of setting up a support system and ways to do it. Although her advice was geared towards folks with bipolar disorder, those with other mood disorders or anxiety could probably also find useful information. As someone who, only this afternoon, had to deal with an anxiety-induced panic attack, I can confidently say that Forney's "put your face in a tub of ice water" trick actually does help.
Some of the advice Forney covered was the same stuff I've seen in other self-help books for depression, anxiety, etc., but she occasionally put a twist on some of it that I hadn't seen before and liked. For example, there are a lot of people who say "be kind to yourself, you wouldn't say that to someone you loved, right?" Which is all well and good but doesn't really make it easier to not beat yourself up over stuff. Forney had similar advice, but instead of just saying "you wouldn't say that to someone you loved," she presented a visualization exercise in which you imagine saying that to a child version of yourself, then imagine what you'd do if someone you loved did the same thing you were berating yourself about, then imagine treating your child self like you would someone you loved, and then finally treat yourself like that. Not a thing I've tried yet, but I really liked that page.
Like so many other self-help books, Forney also brought up meditation. One twist that she added that I liked was making walking meditation less boring by turning it into a story she actually wanted to participate in. She'd imagine that aliens had contacted her and told her that the area she was in was going to be destroyed. They had turned her whole body into a recording device, and they needed her to record as much as she could, with as many of her senses as she could. She had to be as much in the moment as possible, because any thoughts would disrupt the recording.
All in all, this was a good self-help book that was more text-heavy than I expected it to be, but still a quick read. I apparently read it at just the right time, too - I'm very grateful for that ice water trick.
(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)
I requested this in order to read up on mental health-related graphic novels for work. This was much more text-heavy than I expected - not so much fun to read cover-to-cover, which I needed to do fairly quickly in order to finish it in time to write up some impressions for coworkers. But I'll admit that I got through it more quickly and easily than I probably would have if it had been a more traditional self-help book. The large comic-style text and illustrations were appealing and usually easy to follow.
Forney covered lots of topics: different therapy options, coping tools, dealing with insomnia (or the opposite, hypersomnia), dealing with meds (tips for remembering to take them, traveling with meds, side effects), identifying your warning signs, and the importance of setting up a support system and ways to do it. Although her advice was geared towards folks with bipolar disorder, those with other mood disorders or anxiety could probably also find useful information. As someone who, only this afternoon, had to deal with an anxiety-induced panic attack, I can confidently say that Forney's "put your face in a tub of ice water" trick actually does help.
Some of the advice Forney covered was the same stuff I've seen in other self-help books for depression, anxiety, etc., but she occasionally put a twist on some of it that I hadn't seen before and liked. For example, there are a lot of people who say "be kind to yourself, you wouldn't say that to someone you loved, right?" Which is all well and good but doesn't really make it easier to not beat yourself up over stuff. Forney had similar advice, but instead of just saying "you wouldn't say that to someone you loved," she presented a visualization exercise in which you imagine saying that to a child version of yourself, then imagine what you'd do if someone you loved did the same thing you were berating yourself about, then imagine treating your child self like you would someone you loved, and then finally treat yourself like that. Not a thing I've tried yet, but I really liked that page.
Like so many other self-help books, Forney also brought up meditation. One twist that she added that I liked was making walking meditation less boring by turning it into a story she actually wanted to participate in. She'd imagine that aliens had contacted her and told her that the area she was in was going to be destroyed. They had turned her whole body into a recording device, and they needed her to record as much as she could, with as many of her senses as she could. She had to be as much in the moment as possible, because any thoughts would disrupt the recording.
All in all, this was a good self-help book that was more text-heavy than I expected it to be, but still a quick read. I apparently read it at just the right time, too - I'm very grateful for that ice water trick.
(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)
May 14, 2019
This is a really comprehensive and useful guide for anyone who has mental illness, not just those with bipolar. It's well written, very accessible, and intersectional. It is also backed up with references and resources, and would probably also be a good read for someone neurotypical who wants to learn more about mental illness.
July 21, 2018
This book is an excellent read packed with great information in almost a graphic novel format. It is humorous, engaging, insightful, and helpful. It does have brilliant advice as the title suggests. I found the information about red flagpoles, red flags, and meditation particularly interesting.
July 21, 2019
Excellent. If you have, to any extent, any mood disorder, you will probably find something useful and possibly life-changing in this book. Second time reading.
April 17, 2018
This is a very strong book, presenting valuable information informatively and engagingly. It lacks the personal narrative that made Forney's Marbles so immersive and un-put-downable, taking you inside the illness and the battle to find emotional stability, but in Rock Steady Forney provides a strong bedrock of basic knowledge about bipolarism and mental illness, while presenting affirmations to support sufferers, warning signs to help them head off episodes, and treatments to bring episodes under control. She's very clear that there is no single treatment, but there are a variety of physical, medical, and emotional steps that taken together - in whatever combination an individual may need - will enable most bi-polar individuals to attain balance and mental health.
Advance PDF.
Advance PDF.
June 15, 2018
Received an advance copy for an upcoming ALA panel.
This is less a follow-up to Marbles and more of a companion to it. There is plenty to love here, from the way the book is organized, to the way it was printed (bookmarks can be made from the cover!), to the list of resources at the end... this is a one-stop-shop tool for grounding yourself. While the book is written from the perspective of bipolar and most directly maps to those with it, I think much of the content is valuable for other mental health needs as well.
This is less a follow-up to Marbles and more of a companion to it. There is plenty to love here, from the way the book is organized, to the way it was printed (bookmarks can be made from the cover!), to the list of resources at the end... this is a one-stop-shop tool for grounding yourself. While the book is written from the perspective of bipolar and most directly maps to those with it, I think much of the content is valuable for other mental health needs as well.
April 2, 2020
So enlightening and useful. Everything great about Ellen Forney is here. SMEDMERTS is my new mantra.
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Soooooo helpful to reread slowwww through this during such a stressful and uncertain time. What a terrific resource.
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Soooooo helpful to reread slowwww through this during such a stressful and uncertain time. What a terrific resource.
September 14, 2018
I was hoping for more of her story, but it’s got a lot of great tips in it for someone newly diagnosed (aka not me).
August 1, 2021
Fantastic advice for managing self-care told with humor and grace.
September 22, 2018
A very good book, the transition from more personal narrative nonfiction to more just nonfiction nonfiction did detract a bit from the experience but that's more personal then wholly objective. This is the second self-care, mental health book that I read of late and thanks to the repport that Ellen Forney established in her first book with me (as her reader) I did enjoy this book a bit more, but it takes quite a bit of effort for self-help/self-care/mental health/meditation to not come across as obliviously privileged.
As a practicing artist who is aiming to keep things rock steady, and is willing to take meds, Ellen Forney is a very important voice who probably helped me more than I necessarily realize. You don't need to be tortured to be an artist!
As a practicing artist who is aiming to keep things rock steady, and is willing to take meds, Ellen Forney is a very important voice who probably helped me more than I necessarily realize. You don't need to be tortured to be an artist!
October 5, 2025
For 2025, one of my reading challenges is to read at least three books about bipolar disorder. This is my 3rd book to complete the challenge!
As someone who has been living with this disorder for four years now, I am very glad to see all of the helpful tools that I have slowly discovered, all in one book! It also helps that its a graphic novel which makes it more accessible versus other books that aim to educate about this illness.
The topics I've liked the most (and had to learn through real life experience prior):
- Meditation & Breathing exercises 10/10
- Medication timings & importance of keeping said timings during travel
- Seasons affecting my moods
- Leaning into friends and family as my support system
I'm also excited to dig in to the media that this book has highlighted, such as documentaties from celebrities sharing their own experiences.
My only regret is that I wish my younger self had found this sooner!! 10/10 would recommend to anyone on the same train as me!
As someone who has been living with this disorder for four years now, I am very glad to see all of the helpful tools that I have slowly discovered, all in one book! It also helps that its a graphic novel which makes it more accessible versus other books that aim to educate about this illness.
The topics I've liked the most (and had to learn through real life experience prior):
- Meditation & Breathing exercises 10/10
- Medication timings & importance of keeping said timings during travel
- Seasons affecting my moods
- Leaning into friends and family as my support system
I'm also excited to dig in to the media that this book has highlighted, such as documentaties from celebrities sharing their own experiences.
My only regret is that I wish my younger self had found this sooner!! 10/10 would recommend to anyone on the same train as me!
August 24, 2018
This is an informative primer to an ignorant non-bipolar/depressed/manic person like me; not only do those with these conditions need to work hard to keep symptoms in check, reach out for help, know which meds work and which don't, etc., but they need to be incredibly self-aware. Which is something we could all put some energy into! And the suggestions for meditation practice in here are helpful too.
August 3, 2018
This is a touching, sweet and very helpful graphic book written for those managing mood disorders. It’s also great for people who love someone with this diagnosis to understand better what they are going through and how to be helpful. I’ve had direct experience as someone I love was diagnosed 14 years ago, and I’m always trying to learn how to be a better supporter - this book and it’s resources definitely educated me!
November 24, 2018
This book is great for the scatter-brained person in need of a pick-me-up and some sound advice on coping with mental illness...or really just life in general. It was hard to sit and read through it like her memoir, but she really covered all grounds when it came to the rocky terrain of emotions and some good tools to get through them.
July 6, 2018
I took this out from the library... I'm going to need to buy myself a copy, because this is some of the best advice I've seen for dealing with my mental illness and I know I'm going to need to refer back to it at some point.
June 8, 2018
even a good reference work for mental illness/overall wellbeing
September 30, 2018
I wish this book was available when I was does
t diagnosed!
t diagnosed!
January 7, 2019
This is an awesome book fun of valuable information presented in a fun way.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 162 reviews