PRAISE FOR WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE
“Hilary Smith has come through big time with a book about bipolar disorder targeted to teens or 20-somethings experiencing mental illness for the first time.”
—Washington Post
“Hilary Smith's Welcome to the Jungle provides readers with wise and excellent counsel about the thing called bipolar disorder. At once radical education and exuberant conversation, this combo memoir and self-help book is a must read for the millions whose ups and downs cause them to collide with psychiatry and the current supremely flawed mental health system.”
—Eric Maisel, PhD, author of The Future of Mental Health and Rethinking Depression
“Welcome to the Jungle does an excellent job of distilling important and trustworthy information. Hilary Smith strikes an effective balance in addressing the experience of bipolar teens and young adults who are struggling to come to terms with the reality of their illness. What they'll find in Ms. Smith's writing is sensible information from someone who talks their talk and walks with balance gained from her own personal journey.”
—Russ Federman, PhD, ABPP, psychologist, author,
and blogger: Bipolar You in Psychology Today
“An edgy and informative account. Refreshingly, Hilary Smith manages to bring humor into the discussion of an illness that is often written of only in somber terms. While recognizing the challenges inherent in bipolar disorder, she poses an optimistic outlook with her exploration of “jungle wanderers.” The upbeat tone of Welcome to the Jungle is most welcome!”
—Stephanie Marohn, author of The Natural Medicine Guide to Bipolar Disorder
“Hilary Smith brings to light what those with bipolar already know: that just because you've been diagnosed with a mental illness doesn't mean you've lost your insight, intelligence, or playful (and often self-mocking) sense of humor. Welcome to the Jungle astutely captures the roller coaster of emotions that accompany bipolar—from trenchant despair to uproarious mania— and does so in a way that never alienates the reader, but rather sucks you in and keeps you wanting to go along for the ride. Writing with a wisdom and faculty well beyond her years, Smith had me laughing out loud—not at her, but with her. Whether you're a teen for whom the diagnosis of bipolar is as raw and fresh as a snipped nerve, or in your twenties struggling with the disease for what seems like decades, Welcome to the Jungle is the quintessential young person's companion.”
—Malina Saval, author of The Secret Lives of Boys: Inside the Raw Emotional World of Male Teens
“Hilary Smith's wise, hilarious, and candid book is a veritable lifesaver not only for those suffering from bipolar disorder, but for those struggling to keep their sanity while loving them. Maybe because the author suffers from the disorder herself, her book is an actual survival guide, brimming with insight, anecdote, and tough love. Recovery was never so inspiring.”
—Allison Burnett, author of Undiscovered Gyrl
“By far the best, most comprehensive self-help book out there about bipolar disorder. Hilary Smith's incredible sense of humor, candor, and wit make her guide easy to read, a pleasure, and a laugh riot. Every person with bipolar (or family member or friend) should read this book as soon as possible. This book will save lives.”
—Andy Behrman, author of Electroboy: A Memoir of Mania
“Funny, smart, and unflinchingly astute, Welcome to the Jungle is exactly the guide you want on your journey from chaos to stability as you learn to manage bipolar disorder. Smith's sure voice is a welcome companion over some hard road, and her wry wisdom lights the way. Indispensable.”
—Marya Hornbacher, author of Madness: A Bipolar Life and Wasted: A Memoir of Anorexia and Bulimia
This edition first published in 2017 by Conari Press, an imprint of
Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC
With offices at:
65 Parker Street, Suite 7
Newburyport, MA 01950
Copyright © 2017 by Hilary Smith
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC. Reviewers may quote brief passages. Previously published in 2010 as Welcome to the Jungle by Conari Press, an imprint of Red Wheel/Weiser, ISBN: 978-1-57324-472-5.
ISBN: 978-1-57324-695-8
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Smith, Hilary, 1986–
Welcome to the jungle : everything you ever wanted to know about bipolar but were too freaked out to ask / Hilary Smith.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-1-57324-472-5 (alk. paper)
1. Depression in adolescence—Popular works. 2. Manic-depressive illness in adolescence—Popular works. 3. Smith, Hilary, 1986—Health. 4. Manic-depressive illness in adolescence—Patients—Canada—Biography. I.
Title.
RJ506.D4S585 2010
616.85'2700835—dc22
2009050798
Cover design by Jim Warner
Text design by Jane Hagaman
Typeset in ITC New Baskerville and Toronto Gothic
Printed in Canada
MAR
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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This book is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent any illness or act as a substitute for advice from a doctor or psychiatrist.
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION TO THE 2017 EDITION
INTRODUCTION TO THE 2010 EDITION
2 MANIA, DEPRESSION, PSYCHOSIS, OH MY!
A WHIRLWIND TOUR THROUGH THE EPISODES OF BIPOLAR DISORDER