Manic: A Memoir

Terri Cheney's account of her bipolar "madness" is quite riveting. As a reader, you are along for the rollercoaster ride that is her life. She gives excellent (and entertaining) examples of what she felt like when she was manic, such as the time she thought she could seduce any man in the room. Since her life and career were in Hollywood, I doubt that most people even noticed her erratic and odd behavior! Some reviewers suggested that she is too self-indulgent in her account of her bipolar disorder, but HELLO, - this is an account of HER experience. The book is clearly not intended to be a manual on how to deal with bipolar disorder in general; She is speaking about how being bipolar has affected her own life. Still, I think it is a wonderful resource for the families of bipolar people, as Cheney's story helps to explain the disorder in a more accessible way than many clinical psychology manuals do.

Writing about mental illness is always a challenge. Trying to explain what is going on in your head when you're riding a manic high can involve some scary things. Trying to write about the highs and lows of bipolar disorder in words that make non-suffers understand is not easy. As someone who has been bipolar for more than thirty years, I know first hand how tough it is to try and explain the ups and downs in ways that don't trivialize the wave of emotions, or doesn't reduce the feelings to trite catch phrases. I think that Cheney does a very good job of capturing the frantic, frenzied thoughts of a manic high. Cheney writes in a way that almost emulates the waves of ups and downs, the disjointed and scattered thinking. A few commenters have said the book jumps around a lot -- and, honestly, a lot of bipolar thoughts are like that. They jump around, race at speeds so fast you can't keep up, and make sense to no one but you. Cheney is very good at capturing those moments in words.But, I would also caution people who don't have experience with bipolar disorder from reading this book as a "universal" experience. Mental illness, like most other things in life, varies from person to person. Some people with bipolar can be wildly out-of-control, while others can be more in control. Some people with bipolar become addicts (in fact, for a long time, one had to be an addict to be diagnosed as manic depressive -- the old term for bipolar.) I was never addicted to drugs, and have a few bipolar friends who also never did drugs -- but I also have some bipolar friends who were serious drug addicts, who still slip into drugs from time to time. So to pick up Cheney's book and think that her story is the same as every other manic-depressive's story is wrong. It is now known that bipolar covers a broad spectrum (it is now commonly referred to as Bipolar Spectrum Disorder) as symptoms and behaviors can vary from person to person. When I was younger, I was never diagnosed as bipolar because the DSM criteria said that your manic 'highs' lasted 7 days, and were fueled by drugs. It's now known that many people rapid cycle -- I've become more a much more rapid cycler as I've gotten older. When I was in my teens, my manic highs would last 3 or 4 days at the most (my depressions lasted much longer); as I've gotten older, my mood cycles are much faster. There are days where I can go from a manic high to a crushing depression in a matter of hours. So, while it should be kept in mind that Cheney's bipolar disorder is different from mine, they still have much in common: the hypomania, the hyper-sexualness, the suicidal ideation, to name just a few commonalities.Cheney's book offers a very good glimpse into the mind of someone with bipolar disorder, but is not representative of all people with the illness. She offers insight and candor, but for some, her actions may seem extreme. At the risk of being very repetitive: one person's bipolar symptoms can be very different from another person's -- but that doesn't make one person's symptoms more valid than another's. There was much in Cheney's book that I could relate to, even if my episodes were never as high-watt as hers. I respect her for sharing her story, because it helps to strip away the mystery of a strange mental illness.I will agree with many of the commenters that Cheney does spend a great deal of time talking about her red hair and can sometimes seem like she's flaunting her wealth. But, at the same time, I know that when anyone tells their story, they speak about the world they know -- Cheney's just happens to be a world with money. Still ... there may be one too many mentions of it.I'd disagree with those who mention that she's overly-dramatic. Extreme bipolar manic episodes can be very dramatic. While my own episodes have not been as dramatic, I've seen several manic episodes that make Cheney's "overly dramatic" episodes seem boring by comparison. Again, bipolar is a spectrum disorder, and the array and intensity of episodes varies from person to person. So while I may think she flaunts her upper-class status a bit, I'm not going to judge her because her symptoms are more intense than mine.Overall, this is a well-written book about a topic that can be tough to explain. I mentioned at the beginning that Cheney's writing is often fast-flowing and disjointed, but that's how the manic mind can be when it's running at high speed. If you've never had your thoughts run around like that, the book can seem disjointed, so think of the disjointedness as a learning experience, as a way to see how thoughts can race and jump around when one is on a manic high.I've used this book as a way to share my own experience with others -- I've highlighted numerous passages, and made lots of margin notes -- some agreeing with Cheney, some not. Between her words and my notes, I've been able to explain my own experience to friends and family.

Told in chapters, episodes of mania, passages of melancholy are rendered with clear, simple prose (despite her history as a lawyer!) and with artful nuance of literary devices. The author's narrative will not only enlighten but also enchant the reader. I was impressed with her writing. I found myself highlighting phrases or paragraphs because the writing was so ... True. Plumb true. The reader is (thankfully) spared of pedantic information on the bipolar diagnosis because Cheney's writing carries you forward effortlessly--which means her writing is sans the self-consciousness a novice author is prone to indulge in. And yet I learned much more about this mood disorder and its cyclical ups and downs, highs and lows--its varying wavelengths and idiosyncrasies--than I ever have. My recommendation: this is worth it. [And as an aside, I love how Mr. Alan Grammar-Fixer says, "If it wasn't for your manic-depression," instead of, "If it weren't..." Brilliant. That man bugged me. Ew. Ew. EW!]

I love that Cheney is a voice for the many suffering with this complicated disorder. Her memoir shines so much light on the disease and experiences with the mental health system.The fact that she is a high powered Entertainment lawyer who drives a porsche and wears Chanel Ballet flats & Armani Suits proves that mental illness does not discriminate and affects all classes of society.I could relate to her stories of navigating life in L.A. which by itself is its own insanity. She vacations in Big Sur, California.Cheney raises very important questions about the state of mental health care services in America today. In one story, she is subjected to being restrained for hours and inevitably peeing on herself even asking the doctors to release her. These kinds of abuses are disgusting and inhumane.She discusses her trials with various types of medications and different psychiatrists. I really admired her in depth analysis of the varying states of bipolar from mixed phaases to hypomania. This disorder is often very complex and in my opinion very much often misdiagnoses as a result. Cheney enlightens the average person in a way which frankly most doctors seem incapable of grasping.She talks about the seductive personality of mania, the self destructive behaviors of impulsivity.Overall she spends a lot of her time observing her moods to try to understand when a bipolar episode is coming on.This is a great book for anyone who has struggled with mental illness or those who offer support to people who do. A must read for all psychiatric professionals.

An honest and brave telling of holding on while living a manic depressive illness. The telling of her experiences was authentic but just didn't keep this reader fully engaged. It is an easy read but there are more engaging autobiographical stories concerning bipolar disorder.

A Type 1 bipolar must read - scarily relatable and poignant. It made me feel “normal” and “special” at the same time.

MJ Rogers, Victoria, BC, CanadaI really enjoyed reading Terri Cheney's Manic: A Memoir! I emailed her saying how I hoped that she could find the time to write more books re: her troubles with suffering from the dreadful Bipolar Disorder.

Very truthful and honest description of suffering of strange disease which is difficult to understand for those who didn't see it.

Una historia humana y muy personal. La autora se desnuda en cada párrafo. La escritura como autoterapia. Por supuesto, mejor en su idioma original.

I ordered a used version and it was in excellent condition, actually it was even signed by the author (!!) which was a good surprise. Also it is a good read, I couldn't put it down.