Peter Barraclough

Living with bipolar disorder – a guide for individuals and families Michael W Otto Living with bipolar disorder – a guide for individuals and families Oxford University Press 152pp £11.99 978 0 1997 8202 4 0199782024

This useful book from the United States happily crosses the Atlantic with little cultural dissonance. Any Americanisms are easily translateable.

Like So Totally Paul Sayer Like So Totally Solidus 360pp £10.99 9781904529507 190452950X

Paul Sayer is a former psychiatric nurse and winner of the 1988 Whitbread Award for The Comforts of Madness. He writes well about adolescence, exploring why some teenagers behave so badly and yet mostly grow up all right in the end.

Diary Drawings – Mental Illness and Me Bobby Baker Diary Drawings – Mental Illness and Me Profile Books/Wellcome Collection 232pp £15 978 1 8466 8374 9 1846683742

Bobby Baker is a woman of many parts: daughter, wife, mother, artist, performer, mental patient, cancer patient, social critic and explorer of the unconscious. She studied painting at St Martins School of Art from 1968 to 1972, is artistic director of Daily Life, an Arts Council funded company, and part-time senior research fellow at Queen Mary, University of London. She also has borderline personality disorder. Such people tend to be intelligent, articulate and creative - also eccentric, prone to self-harm and living on the fringes of society.

Problem-based psychiatry – second edition Ben Green Problem-based psychiatry – second edition Radcliffe Publishing 253pp £24.99 978 1 84619 042 1 1846190428

This is a pacy look at problem-based psychiatry. If it lacks depth and fine detail in parts, this is more than compensated for by its comprehensive breadth and vision. For readers wanting more detail there are recommended reading lists for other texts and websites.

Nothing Personal – Disturbing Undercurrents in Cancer Care Mitzi Blennerhassett Nothing Personal – Disturbing Undercurrents in Cancer Care Radcliffe Publishing 192pp £14.99 978 1 8461 9010 0 184619010X

This is the story of one womans lonely journey through cancer. It is written in an idiosyncratic style using prose, poetry, and drawings.