Intense Minds: Through the Eyes of Young People With Bipolar Disorder

by Tracy Anglada

Young people with bipolar disorder and adults who grew up with the condition speak out to share how they experienced the symptoms of this illness during their youth, and how it affected their functioning in school, at home and with friends. Their insightful comments, woven together by the author, form a stunning picture of the young person's internal experience. The reader will come away with a new understanding of these young people and a renewed commitment to make a difference by reaching out to help.

"Tracy Anglada has broken new ground with Intense Minds. While most books speak about the children and their feelings, hers is the first to capture the children articulating what they truly feel their impossible levels of frustration and irritability, their episodes of emptiness or manic energy, their severe difficulties in the academic environment, and their dread of night time due to their propensity to suffer horrific images and scenarios while sleeping.

"One comes away with such admiration for these children and adolescents for soldiering on despite these terrible burdens, and for the author who took the time to listen and put their words to paper. Parents, clinicians and educators must read this first-of-its-kind book."

Demitri F. Papolos, M.D. and Janice Papolos
Authors of The Bipolar Child

Genres: Nonfiction, Psychology, Mental Illness, Health, Biography

172 pages, Paperback

First published June 12, 2006

Reviews

[Jeanette · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you don't have a child with bipolar disorder personally but know children who have it.. or perhaps work with children who have bipolar disorder this is an interesting book. My oldest has bp and most of the book is things I already knew. Of course, my son is a teenager right now so we've been through most of it already. There isn't much on how to actually help a child. Just what bipolar disorder is like through the eyes of children. Pretty interesting and quite a bit sad. The section on the depression that they go through was the hardest for me. I've seen these things first hand and its never pretty. More people should learn about bp. It's real and its hard to cope with it.

[TK Keanini · Rating 5 out of 5]

Would you force someone with a broken leg to run in PE? Would you force someone alergic to peanuts to eat a PB&J?
Well, you woundn't but it is because you can comprehend what it is to suffer from these conditions. If you can't comprehend the illness, you will be hard pressed to raise or provide positive leadership for someone suffering from a bipolar disorder. Good book and you will have a new understanding when you are finished with it.

[Jakki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extremely helpful and sad knowing now what it's like for those who deal with all the mood swings of Bi-polar. Have munderstanidng, compassion and sympathy. This would be an excellent book for loved ones to read. A GREAT reference book

[Melva Clark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written, easy to read book on Bipolar Disorder.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this book doesn't really include a self-help guide approach I like this approach of just getting to know a collection of young people with bipolar disorder. The ages ranges as well as their point of diagnoses. Each person in this book offers up what it was like for them to go through X because of the cycling of moods and the difficulty that comes with it. Well done.

[Kayla Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars: this would be incredibly helpful for someone who has a child or a student with bipolar disorder, or a new clinician in the field. I’ve worked with bp for many years, so there wasn’t a lot of new information, but the firsthand accounts were very moving and a good reminder for everyone to have more empathy for what these kiddos are going through.

[Taryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

She nailed it with this book! All the rest seem the same, this one will really open your eyes to what the child experiences, feels, and gives great insight!