Just released!
I’m so excited! After two-and-a-half years collaborating with an amazing group of 42 contributors, this powerful new anthology is finally available: Navigating Bipolar Country: Personal and Professional Perspectives on Living with Bipolar Disorder.
Early reviews are uniformly glowing:
“I love this book for so many reasons. Having dealt with bipolar issues in my own family, I can relate to many of the challenges that come with traversing the path to mental wellness. I highly recommend this powerful book.” ~Stephanie Chandler, author and founder of the Nonfiction Authors Association.
“An engaging, powerful, insightful, and heartfelt anthology filled with creativity, determination, resilience, courage, compassion, and hope.” ~Debbie Sesula, MA, CPS, Coordinator, North Shore Peer Support Program, Vancouver Coastal Health.
“This anthology is a triumph. Combining 42 essays told through the lens of individuals living with bipolar disorder, family members, and clinicians, this is an essential and unique read. A rare gem; a must read for anyone striving to learn more about bipolar disorder and its far-reaching effects.” ~Sallie Crotty, author of Out of the Ashes: A Story of Recovery and Hope, forthcoming, June 2022.
Why a bipolar anthology?
As many of you now know, I started life as a nurse with absolutely no mental health issues. At age 51, bipolar disorder suddenly derailed me and my whole family; I flipped from being a health professional to a psychiatric patient in a locked ward. In my 2018 memoir, Mad Like Me: Travels in Bipolar Country, I share the story of my disorder and eventual recovery in frank detail, to help fight the stigma of mental illness and to give hope. This new anthology amplifies the voices of fellow bipolar patients, our family members, and the clinicians who treat us.
Structure of the anthology
At first, I thought I would only include contributions by people like me: people living with a bipolar diagnosis. But then I thought about it: we are only one part of the puzzle. What about our family members who are dragged along for the ride through “bipolar country”? And, for that matter, what do the health and other professionals who treat us think about bipolar disorder?
As a result, the book contains Part 1 with contributions from people with bipolar; Part 2 with reflections from family members; and Part 3 with essays by professionals who work in the field. Forty-two contributions in all, and a Foreword by Candida A. Fink, MD, co-author of Bipolar Disorder for Dummies. She concludes her Foreword:
“Kudos to Dr. Hammond for compiling this moving collection and for bringing together this wide range of stories that will draw you in, touch you deeply, and remain with you.”
From the back cover
(Please note: The “and others” at the end of the list of
contributors refers to people who used a pen name; nine in all.)
Find the book on Amazon
Click here to check out the anthology on Amazon.com 🇺🇸
Click here for Amazon.ca 🇨🇦
Click here for Amazon UK 🇬🇧
If you use the “Look inside” feature on the book’s Amazon page, you will see the list of chapters and contributors in the table of contents. However, if you’d like to receive a PDF with brief summaries of each chapter, please use my Contact form to ask for that, and I will email it to you with pleasure.
Please review!
If you have an active Amazon account, please post a review of the book as soon as possible. Potential readers place a lot of importance on what other readers have to say about a book, so it’s really important to follow through and post a review!
Leave a review on Amazon.com 🇺🇸
Leave a review on Amazon.ca 🇨🇦
(If you don’t have an Amazon account, but do have a Goodreads account, please post a review on Goodreads.)
Please share this news!
Kindly help us fight stigma and share the powerful voices of people who selflessly contributed to this anthology by sharing the news about this unique new resource with any of your family members, friends, colleagues, etc. who may be interested.
Next steps?
If you feel moved to write about your own experiences with bipolar disorder after reading this anthology, please contact me to let me know. As I say in the Epilogue:
A second edition?
Some people who only heard about this book after the deadline for submissions had passed have asked if there might be a second edition that they could submit for. It’s way too early to decide, but I have started a “tentative waiting list” for people who would like to be contacted if ever I do proceed with a second edition. If you’re interested, please use my Contact form and indicate: Second edition of Navigating Bipolar Country. No promises on my end; and no commitments on yours!
If you're curious about the idea of writing your own piece, please see my blog post Write it out for tips on how to put your story into words.
Cheers,
