John Ford - The Bipolar Family Cure: How to end the arguing, overspending, lying, anger, manipulation and irresponsibility.

Disclaimer

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review. This book is a work of non-fiction, but names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered, and is not a substitute for professional advice or other expert assistance that may be required for a persons individual situation. The service of competent professionals should always be sought.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 2: This Is WAR and You Are a General

Chapter 3: Common Strategy Mistakes

Chapter 4: History and Basics of Bipolar Disorder

Chapter 5: Signs and Symptoms of Bipolar Disorder

Chapter 6: Causes and Diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder

Chapter 7: Treatment for Bipolar Disorder

Chapter 8: Medication Compliance

Chapter 9: Triggers to a Bipolar Episode

Chapter 10: Management of Bipolar Disorder

Chapter 11: Helping Your Loved One

Chapter 12: Handling Supporter Anxiety and Worry

Chapter 13: Finances and Money Problems

Chapter 14: Sex and Your Relationship

Chapter 15: Dealing with Anger, Lying, and Manipulation

Chapter 16: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

Chapter 17: Avoiding Caregiver Burnout

Chapter 18: Supporting the Supporter

Chapter 19: The Red Line and Enabling

Chapter 20: Winning Ways to Keep Going

Chapter 21: There IS Hope

Chapter 22: Find Hidden Resources

Chapter 23: Conclusion

BIBLIOGRAPHY

I want to commend you and offer my congratulations on getting this book! It was a brave step indeed. But first, let me thank you for doing what you do with your family... because rarely as a supporter of someone with bipolar disorder do you get any credit.
This book collects the results of over ten years of experience helping and supporting people with bipolar disorder. That experience comes not only from my own role as a supporter of my own mother, but also hundreds of others whom I personally helped with issues concerning their loved ones, as part of many bipolar support groups. Ive also been in contact with thousands of others.

When you add all this together Ive actually gathered over 1,000 case studies on bipolar supporters! Thats how I learned exactly what to do, when to do it, what not to do, and all the solutions and strategies which successful bipolar supporters use all over the world. I compiled their experience, along with my own, into this comprehensive book. This book CAN give you back your normal life, help you regain control over your time, and (believe it or not) live stress free.

So lets begin our journey togetherOK?

First of all, to help you appreciate where Im coming from and why Im passionate about helping others struggling to support someone with bipolar disorder, let me share my own family history. My mother has bipolar disorder, and I am her primary supporter. I therefore very deeply understand what its like to support someone with bipolar disorder. I not only have firsthand experiencebut also an in-depth knowledge of bipolar disorder from years and years of research.

Like you, I'm all too aware of the devastation that bipolar disorder causes in our families. My family made MANY horrific mistakes handling my mother's bipolar disorder until I decided to find a way to genuinely help her and the millions of other individuals and families who live with this awful problem.

I started supporting mom in the late 1990s. In the early 2000s, she got sick. We figured out that she had bipolar disorder and other mental illnesses.

During this time, I also started to attend several mental health support groups. A man there indicated that I had to learn how to be a great supporter to help my mom.

From that point forward, I was devoted to helping my mom and learning how to be a great supporter.

Eventually I realized I needed to know:

• What my mom had
• Why she had it
• What I could do to help her
• How to find people to help her
• How she could help herself
• What kind of doctors she needed
• What other kinds of people she needed to help her
• What help was available in the community
• What kind of medicines she should be taking
• What she needed to do to get stable
• Whether other people with these disorders were successful
• What they did to get successful
• How to set up a great future for her
• Whether she would always have episodes

At the time, my father had a heart condition and I didnt want to overly involve him because stress could kill him, so I became my moms primary supporter. Because of my experience with her and all the research I did about her disorder, as well as all the other people I talked to, I became a sort of expert on bipolar disorder.

I started meeting other supporters and people with bipolar that needed help so I started coaching and supporting them as well.

From the mid to late 2000s to mid-2010s, my mom did well. She had about ten great years but then relapsed again. Later on in the book you will find out how she could have so many great years and then relapse.

In the last decade, I started coaching:

• A woman with bipolar disorder
• A woman supporting a child with bipolar disorder
• A man supporting a mother, brother and sister with bipolar disorder
• A man supporting a father with schizophrenia
• A woman supporting a sister with bipolar disorder
• A woman supporting a son with bipolar disorder
• A woman supporting a sister and many family members with bipolar disorder.

I noticed that people were making the same mistakes and those with success were doing similar things. I started privately sharing success tips, dos and donts with the students.

From 2010-2013, my mom had some mini-episodes here and there, but because of my coaching her as well, she did relatively well over those years, never needing to be hospitalized.

In 2013, my mom started acting strange again and had to be hospitalized. She then went on to be hospitalized eight times in only a few years. It took massive effort and investigation to figure out how someone could go from doing great for so many years and having an episode one time every seven to eight years to having an episode every few months. Later you will discover why.

Eventually I helped to stabilize my mom. It took a lot of time and energy, and a lot of effort on my part.

For the last decade, I have been coaching a number of people including my own mom. Some have done great. Some have done terrible. I have carefully tracked, analyzed and recorded the good, the bad, and the ugly to share with others.

While I was glad to have helped my mom and so many others, I realized that while there was a lot of information on bipolar disorder itself, there were virtually NO books available to help their family members the people who SUPPORT the person with bipolar disorder. I'd also learned from firsthand experience a book like that was desperately needed.

I wanted to create a book that contained all my results to help millions of people. I figured I could give it away and help many people avoid the nightmare that myself and numerous other people went through.