10 Bipolar Disorder Books That Experts Trust and Recommend

Discover insights from Kay Redfield Jamison, Andrew Nierenberg, and Harry Styles For Shea Moisture on essential Bipolar Disorder Books

Harry Styles For Shea Moisture
Updated on June 23, 2025
We may earn commissions for purchases made via this page

What if managing Bipolar Disorder felt less like navigating a maze and more like following a trusted guide? Around 2.8% of adults worldwide live with bipolar disorder, a condition that challenges mood regulation and daily functioning. Understanding it deeply can transform lives—not only of those diagnosed but also their families and partners.

Experts like Kay Redfield Jamison, author of An Unquiet Mind and a clinical psychologist, have long shaped how we view this condition. Andrew Nierenberg, Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, highlights practical tools that help people regain stability. Meanwhile, Harry Styles For Shea Moisture, a poet and advocate, shares poignant artistic reflections that dismantle stigma and foster empathy.

These ten expert-recommended books offer diverse perspectives—from clinical guides to memoirs and poetry. While these expert-curated books provide proven frameworks, readers seeking content tailored to their specific mood patterns, relationship dynamics, or personal goals might consider creating a personalized Bipolar Disorder book that builds on these insights.

Best for managing Bipolar II symptoms
Monica Ramirez Basco, PhD, a clinical psychologist and Associate Director at the National Institutes of Health, brings decades of expertise in cognitive-behavioral therapy to this workbook. Driven by her extensive background in neuroscience and mental health policy, she developed tools grounded in research to help people with bipolar disorder gain practical control over mood swings. Her academic and governmental experience lends the book a solid foundation, making it a valuable guide for anyone seeking to understand and manage their condition more effectively.
2015·237 pages·Mood Disorders, Bipolar Disorder, Manic Depression, Mental Health, Cognitive Therapy

When Dr. Monica Ramirez Basco realized how many individuals struggle to manage the unpredictable swings of bipolar disorder, she crafted this workbook to offer practical, science-backed tools for daily mood regulation. You’ll learn to identify early warning signs, understand your unique triggers, and develop personalized strategies to resist manic impulses and overcome depressive inertia. Detailed exercises help you build skills in stress management, decision-making, and problem-solving, supported by vivid examples that translate theory into practice. This book suits anyone navigating bipolar disorder who wants to engage actively with their treatment and gain a clearer sense of control over their mood fluctuations.

View on Amazon
Best for families supporting loved ones
Kay Redfield Jamison, noted author of An Unquiet Mind and expert in bipolar disorder, praises this guide for its straightforward, practical assistance to those living with bipolar illness and their families. She emphasizes how it goes beyond theory, offering concrete help that resonates from her own clinical and personal insights. "A practical, straightforward book that will be a great help to those who have bipolar illness, as well as their families. I could not recommend this book more highly," she states. The guide's comprehensive updates and family-focused tools align with her experience supporting people through the complexities of bipolar disorder. Additionally, Library Journal recommends it as an important resource for patient education collections, underscoring its broad relevance and utility.

Recommended by Kay Redfield Jamison

Author of An Unquiet Mind

A practical, straightforward book that will be a great help to those who have bipolar illness, as well as their families. I could not recommend this book more highly.

2019·444 pages·Mood Disorders, Manic Depression, Bipolar Disorder, Treatment Strategies, Family Support

Unlike most mental health guides that focus narrowly on clinical definitions, this book offers a deeply practical approach drawn from Dr. David J. Miklowitz's extensive research and clinical experience. You gain access to science-based strategies for managing mood episodes, navigating treatment options, and handling family dynamics, illustrated with tools like downloadable worksheets and a new chapter addressing kids and teens. The detailed exploration of bipolar II, alongside updates on personalized care, makes it especially useful if you or a loved one live with this condition. While it won't replace therapy, it equips you with clear steps to take control and improve daily life.

View on Amazon
Best for personalized mood strategies
This custom AI book on bipolar mood stabilization is created after you share your unique mood patterns, experiences, and wellness goals. You tell us which specific mood challenges and strategies you want to focus on, as well as your current knowledge level. The book is then written to provide personalized guidance that fits your specific situation, cutting through generic advice to focus on what truly matters for your mood stability and long-term wellness.
2025·50-300 pages·Bipolar Disorder, Mood Regulation, Personalized Assessment, Mood Tracking, Relapse Prevention

This personalized book provides a tailored approach to managing bipolar mood fluctuations by focusing on customized strategies that align with your unique mood patterns, lifestyle, and wellness goals. It offers targeted techniques for recognizing early warning signs, implementing mood stabilization practices, and integrating personal coping mechanisms that fit your daily context. By cutting through generic advice, this book delivers a personalized framework for mood regulation, blending behavioral insights with practical tactics to enhance emotional balance. It addresses specific challenges such as mood tracking, relapse prevention, and wellness planning to help you maintain stability and improve quality of life.

Tailored Blueprint
Mood Regulation Insights
1,000+ Happy Readers
Best for exploring treatment innovations
Kirkus Reviews, a respected authority in book criticism, highlights this guide's blend of scientific rigor and compassion for bipolar disorder. This expert praises it as an exhaustive resource that offers candid, current advice, opening new horizons for those living with or supporting individuals affected by the condition. Their endorsement underscores how the book reshaped their understanding by balancing medical advances with practical support strategies.

Recommended by Kirkus Reviews

Exhaustive, scientific, yet compassionate... An absolute gold mine for those with the disorder and their families: thorough, candid, and up-to-date advice, full of new possibilities for help.

2020·344 pages·Mood Disorders, Bipolar Disorder, Manic Depression, Psychiatry, Medication

Dr. Francis Mark Mondimore's decades of psychiatric experience led him to rethink common approaches to bipolar disorder, emphasizing a nuanced understanding of treatment options and patient care. You gain detailed insights into cutting-edge medications like ketamine, plus clear guidance on supplements such as omega-3s and NAC, including which to avoid. The book also explores new brain stimulation therapies, pharmacogenomics, and the complex overlap between bipolar disorder and borderline personality disorder. This guide suits anyone navigating bipolar disorder firsthand or supporting loved ones, offering practical lifestyle advice and thoughtful explanations without oversimplification.

American Book Fest Best Book Award
Multiple editions and translations
View on Amazon
Best for mood stabilization techniques
Dr. Peter Forster, a clinical professor at UCSF and expert in bipolar disorder treatment, brings decades of experience to this workbook. Alongside Gina Gregory, a licensed clinical social worker, he draws on their combined clinical backgrounds to create a resource designed to help you manage bipolar II and cyclothymia symptoms daily. Their professional collaboration ensures the guidance is both medically informed and grounded in community mental health practice, offering you a well-rounded approach to mood stabilization and symptom management.
2018·172 pages·Mood Disorders, Bipolar Disorder, Manic Depression, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Acceptance Commitment Therapy

Dr. Peter Forster, a clinical professor of psychiatry at UCSF specializing in bipolar disorder, teams up with clinical social worker Gina Gregory to offer you practical skills rooted in both Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. The book guides you through recognizing mood patterns like hypomania and depression, and equips you with exercises to stabilize your mood and manage daily challenges of bipolar II and cyclothymia. For example, you’ll find self-assessments and checklists that help identify warning signs before mood shifts occur. This workbook suits anyone looking for compassionate, hands-on strategies to build stability and resilience in daily life with mood disorders.

View on Amazon
Best for cognitive-behavioral tools
Andrew Nierenberg, Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, emphasizes this workbook’s role as an "essential map and guidebook" for those with bipolar II disorder who feel disoriented by their condition. After witnessing how many patients struggle to find clear guidance, Nierenberg values how the authors provide practical tools to help navigate moods and restore functioning. His endorsement highlights the book’s utility not just for patients but for clinicians seeking a structured resource. Similarly, Michael Ostacher, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Stanford, praises the workbook for combining education and self-monitoring techniques, likening it to "having access to skilled therapists any hour of the day," reflecting its accessibility and clinical rigor.

Recommended by Andrew Nierenberg

Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School

[The authors] have provided patients with an essential map and guidebook for people with bipolar II disorder who, by no fault of their own, have become strangers in a strange land. This book includes essential tools that can help people manage their disorder and find their way to wellness and functioning.

The Bipolar II Disorder Workbook: Managing Recurring Depression, Hypomania, and Anxiety (A New Harbinger Self-Help Workbook) book cover

by Stephanie McMurrich Roberts, Louisa Grandin Sylvia, Noreen A. Reilly-Harrington, David J. Miklowitz··You?

2014·216 pages·Mood Disorders, Manic Depression, Bipolar Disorder, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy

When Stephanie McMurrich Roberts and her coauthors developed this workbook, they challenged the usual approach to managing bipolar disorder by focusing specifically on Bipolar II—a condition often overshadowed by its more severe counterpart, Bipolar I. Drawing from their clinical expertise and research, they offer you a blend of cognitive-behavioral and mindfulness techniques tailored to handle recurring depression, hypomania, and anxiety. You’ll find practical exercises that help track mood changes and regulate emotions, such as structured thought records and wellness planning, especially useful for those navigating the unpredictable highs and lows unique to Bipolar II. This workbook is ideal if you want concrete tools grounded in evidence, whether you’re newly diagnosed or seeking to refine your management strategies.

View on Amazon
Best for daily mood stabilization
This personalized AI book about mood stabilization is created after you share your experiences with bipolar disorder, your current emotional challenges, and which mood-related exercises you want to focus on. You also share your specific goals for improving mood stability and resilience, and the book is written to cover exactly what you need each day. This approach makes it easier to build practical habits tailored to your unique mood patterns, rather than generic advice that can feel overwhelming or irrelevant.
2025·50-300 pages·Bipolar Disorder, Mood Stabilization, Resilience Building, Daily Exercises, Cognitive Techniques

This personalized book provides a detailed, day-by-day program of exercises designed to stabilize mood and build resilience for individuals managing bipolar disorder. It offers a tailored approach that cuts through generic advice by focusing on specific daily actions personalized to your unique mood patterns, lifestyle, and goals. The book presents practical strategies that integrate cognitive-behavioral techniques, mindfulness practices, and behavioral activation exercises to enhance emotional regulation. By concentrating on incremental, achievable steps over 30 days, it helps you develop sustainable habits for mood improvement and resilience enhancement that fit your specific context.

Tailored Framework
Mood Resilience
1,000+ Happy Readers
Best for personal and clinical perspectives
Merryl Hammond PhD studied nursing and community health in South Africa before immigrating to Montreal, Canada. Struck by bipolar disorder at age 51, she experienced a startling transition from researcher to locked-ward patient. Her bestselling memoir and editorial work in this collection confront mental illness stigma head-on, drawing from her unique dual perspective to offer readers profound insight into bipolar disorder's complexities.
Navigating Bipolar Country: Personal and Professional Perspectives on Living with Bipolar Disorder book cover

by Merryl Hammond PhD, Julie A Fast, Natasha Tracy, Amy Dodd Pilkington, Victoria Maxwell BFA, Tara Mandarano, Gina Roitman, David Laing Dawson MD, Abdu’l-Missagh Ghadirian MD, Candida A Fink MD··You?

2022·426 pages·Mood Disorders, Bipolar Disorder, Manic Depression, Mental Health, Patient Perspectives

Unlike most books on bipolar disorder that focus solely on clinical perspectives, this collection stitches together personal stories, family experiences, and medical insights into a vivid tapestry of what living with bipolar feels like. Edited by Merryl Hammond, whose own journey from researcher to patient informs the compassionate curation, it offers you a multifaceted understanding—from the emotional turbulence to the societal stigma. You’ll find chapters that explore family dynamics, treatment challenges, and the creative impulses that often accompany bipolar moods. If you want an unvarnished, human look at bipolar disorder that goes beyond textbook definitions, this book serves both those affected and the professionals supporting them.

View on Amazon
Best for families seeking practical guidance
Aimee Daramus PsyD brings her clinical psychology expertise specializing in bipolar disorder to this essential family guide. Drawing on years of experience, she offers compassionate insights and practical strategies to help families navigate the complexities of mental illness. Her background makes this book a grounded resource for those seeking to understand bipolar disorder and support their loved ones through treatment and daily challenges.

When Aimee Daramus PsyD first recognized the challenges families face when a loved one is diagnosed with bipolar disorder, she crafted this guide to bridge the gaps in understanding and support. You’ll gain clear insights into the diagnostic process, the underlying science, and available treatments like medication and therapy, all explained in accessible language. The book goes beyond theory, offering concrete tools to manage family stress, set healthy boundaries, and foster resilience together. It’s particularly suited for families seeking practical ways to navigate bipolar disorder’s complexities while maintaining strong relationships.

View on Amazon
Best for relationship support strategies
William O. Selig, PsyD, MFA, is a clinical psychologist whose expertise stems from his dissertation on bipolar disorder and creativity at Stanford University’s Bipolar Disorders Clinic and his leadership in psychotherapy development at Kaiser Permanente. His deep clinical experience and dedication to dialectical behavior therapy shaped this guide, which helps you navigate the complexities of living with a partner who has bipolar disorder while maintaining relationship health and personal well-being.
2021·198 pages·Bipolar Disorder, Mood Disorders, Manic Depression, Mental Health, Psychology

When William O. Selig, PsyD, MFA, first discovered the complex interplay between bipolar disorder and intimate relationships, he crafted this book to bridge that gap. Drawing from his clinical psychology background and research at Stanford’s Bipolar Disorders Clinic, Selig offers you practical exercises like journaling and mindfulness designed to foster mutual understanding and balance. You’ll find clear explanations of bipolar spectrum symptoms alongside real-life examples that illuminate the challenges and strengths in partnerships. This book suits those seeking to support a partner with bipolar disorder while maintaining their own well-being, providing tools that encourage both empathy and resilience.

View on Amazon
Best for poetic insights on bipolar disorder
Harry Styles For Shea Moisture, recognized as a Black queer poet and advocate, shares a personal connection to this poetry collection, praising it as "a favorite poem to teach." Their recommendation highlights the book’s unique voice and impact, especially its ability to resonate emotionally and dismantle stigma. This endorsement reflects the book’s power to offer solidarity and insight to those navigating Bipolar Disorder, making it a meaningful read for anyone seeking a poetic lens on mental health.
HS

Recommended by Harry Styles For Shea Moisture

Black Queer Poet and Advocate

A favorite poem to teach. @sheer_awe put her foot in this book. (from X)

Odes to Lithium book cover

by Shira Erlichman··You?

2019·100 pages·Mood Disorders, Bipolar Disorder, Poetry, Mental Health, Medication

When Shira Erlichman first embraced her experience with Bipolar Disorder, she transformed it into an inventive collection of poems and visual art that challenge stigma and celebrate resilience. This book offers you poetic insights into the complexities of living with this condition, blending humor, personal stories, and bold imagery to explore themes like medication, identity, and self-acceptance. You’ll find chapters that vividly depict moments such as a conversation with her grandmother’s ghost or a candid revelation from her plumber, all underscoring the shared humanity behind mental health struggles. If you seek a deeply personal, artistic perspective rather than clinical advice, this book speaks directly to your empathy and understanding.

View on Amazon
Best for artistic memoirs on bipolar disorder
Ellen Forney is a lifelong cartoonist known for her work on mental health and creativity. She collaborated with Sherman Alexie and teaches comics courses at Cornish College of the Arts. Her experience as an artist diagnosed with bipolar disorder fuels this graphic memoir, offering readers a rare, deeply personal view of the challenges and insights that come with balancing mania, depression, and artistic passion.
2012·256 pages·Mood Disorders, Bipolar Disorder, Manic Depression, Mental Health, Graphic Memoir

When Ellen Forney first discovered she had bipolar disorder just before turning thirty, her struggle to balance mental health with creativity became the heart of this graphic memoir. You’ll gain insight into the complex relationship between mood disorders and artistic expression, as she interweaves her personal journey with stories of artists like van Gogh and Sylvia Plath. The book sheds light on the challenges of managing mania and depression while preserving creative drive, exploring medication fears and treatment dilemmas. If you’re seeking an honest, visual narrative about living with bipolar disorder through an artist’s lens, this offers both empathy and understanding without sugarcoating the experience.

View on Amazon

Get Your Personal Bipolar Disorder Guide Fast

Stop relying on generic advice. Receive strategies tailored to your unique Bipolar Disorder needs in minutes.

Targeted Mood Management
Custom Treatment Plans
Focused Support Strategies

Join 15,000+ Bipolar Disorder enthusiasts personalizing their approach

The Bipolar Blueprint
30-Day Bipolar Reset
Bipolar Trends 2025
Insider's Bipolar Playbook

Conclusion

These ten books reflect distinct yet complementary facets of bipolar disorder—from clinical management and family support to personal narratives and artistic expression. If you're newly diagnosed or supporting a loved one, The Bipolar Disorder Survival Guide and Understanding Bipolar Disorder offer foundational guidance. For hands-on strategies, The Bipolar II Disorder Workbook paired with The Bipolar Workbook can help you develop daily mood regulation skills.

Those drawn to the human experience will find Navigating Bipolar Country, Odes to Lithium, and Marbles resonate deeply, providing empathy and reducing stigma through storytelling and art. For couples, When Your Partner Has Bipolar Disorder offers practical tools to maintain relationship health.

Once you've absorbed these expert insights, create a personalized Bipolar Disorder book to bridge the gap between general principles and your specific situation. Tailored approaches can sharpen your understanding and empower your journey in ways a general book cannot.

Frequently Asked Questions

I'm overwhelmed by choice – which book should I start with?

Start with The Bipolar Disorder Survival Guide for a practical overview that's accessible to both individuals and families. It offers clear strategies without overwhelming detail, making it a great entry point.

Are these books too advanced for someone new to Bipolar Disorder?

No. Many, like Understanding Bipolar Disorder and The Bipolar Workbook, are designed for readers new to the topic, balancing thoroughness with clear explanations and practical advice.

What's the best order to read these books?

Begin with guides that explain the condition, then explore workbooks for skills development, and finish with personal narratives or poetry to gain emotional insight and empathy.

Do I really need to read all of these, or can I just pick one?

You can pick based on your needs—clinical guides for knowledge, workbooks for management skills, memoirs for emotional connection. Each book offers unique value depending on your focus.

Which books focus more on theory vs. practical application?

Bipolar Disorder by Dr. Mondimore explores theory and treatment innovations, while The Bipolar II Disorder Workbook and The Bipolar Workbook emphasize practical tools and exercises.

Can I get a book tailored to my specific Bipolar Disorder challenges?

Yes! While expert books provide solid foundations, personalized books can address your unique mood patterns, treatment history, and goals. Consider creating a personalized Bipolar Disorder book to complement these expert insights.

📚 Love this book list?

Help fellow book lovers discover great books, share this curated list with others!