Bipolar, Not So Much: Understanding Your Mood Swings and Depression

Chris Aiken, MD · James Phelps, MD

Nov 2021 · Tantor Media Inc · Narrated by Charles Constant

About this audiobook

Depression confuses the mind, strips away hope, and causes people to blame themselves for an illness they never asked for. This book presents a revolutionary new understanding of the concept of depression and offers skills and strategies to manage it. No longer is this a one-size-fits-all diagnosis, and antidepressants are no longer the one-size-fits-all treatment. Mood disorders are now seen to form a spectrum of problems, from common depression on one end to full bipolar disorder on the other. In between these extremes are multitudes of people who are on the middle of the mood spectrum, and this book is for them. The first part of the book helps answer the question, "Where am I on the mood spectrum?" By laying the foundation for understanding this spectrum, Aiken and Phelps highlight the key distinctions that define unipolarity, bipolarity, hypomania, mania, and depression. The authors also empower listeners to look beyond antidepressants. They walk listeners through new medications for the mood spectrum, and offer a guide to non-medication treatments that anyone can use on their own, from diet and lifestyle changes to natural supplements.

About the author

Chris Aiken, MD, is the director of the Mood Treatment Center in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and an instructor at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine. He is active in medical research and has published on the treatment and diagnosis of mood disorders.

James Phelps, MD, is the coauthor of Bipolar, Not So Much: Understanding Your Mood Swings and Depression.

Charles Constant is an actor whose professional storytelling career began at the age of thirteen, when he became an Actors' Equity Association apprentice. An accomplished audiobook narrator, Charles has recorded many popular titles, including How to Win at the Sport of Business by Mark Cuban. He lives in Los Angeles.