Ellen Forney’s self-help book, Rock Steady: Brilliant Advice From My Bipolar Life is everything this blog aspires to be. With clean-lined, funny art pieces and truly brilliant advice, Forney’s book is easy to read and will be one of the staples in my repertoire. I highly recommend reading it.
Forney’s primary goal is to encourage and instruct people who suffer from bipolar disorder to obtain and then maintain stability. She clearly loves people, and wants them to succeed. Her best advice comes in the form of an acryonym: SMEDMERTS, which stands for Sleep, Meds, Eat, Doctor, Meditation*Mindfulness, Exercise, Routine, Tools, and Support. Using this acronym as a basis, Forney explains which doctors are out there and how to pay for one, how to get to sleep and stay asleep, and how to manage your meds. She also offers an entire chapter of coping tools, as well as a chapter on “the danger zone,” where she offers advice about how to recognize your warning signs when sliding into an episode.
Forney’s real talent lies in the unassuming artwork. This book is so much more than a list of to-dos. The art makes reading fun, and the information easy to digest. Each picture is clearly crafted to elicit a smile from the reader. The cover (pictured above) features the title in large, bold text, and an overwhelmed smiley face with a tongue sticking out. My toddler delighted in mimicking the emoticon, complete with sound effects.
Overall, I would rate Rock Steady a ten out of ten.
The Bipolar Parent 
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