Overview

""My God, I had to figure this thing out. I loved my wife, and she was sick. But I needed help, too."" Jeffrey Zuckerman's harrowing five-year ride began months before his wife Leah was diagnosed with late-onset bipolar disorder. After thirty years of marriage, Jeff, a semi-retired editor and a second-string catcher on a recreational softball team, nearly became unglued himself as the woman he loved endured an agonizing manic episode and severe depression. Struggling to manage his own self-care, Jeff needed to learn how to overcome the stigma, loneliness, and guilt that accompanied his wife's battle with a mood disorder. Unglued is a candid, funny, and refreshingly irreverent portrayal of the role a spouse takes in loving a partner with a mental illness. Intimate and ultimately hopeful, Jeff's story chronicles the power of compassion, faith, and resilience in the survival of a marriage and a caregiver's own well-being. Unglued was a finalist in the Minnesota Book Awards and was shortlisted for the Eric Hoffer Award.

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9781633373761

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Reviews

A vivid and raw story of two people who loved each other's ways of being, sarcasm and all, until bipolar disorder ripped dangerously into their relationship. The husband struggled with the ambiguous loss stemming from his wife's late-onset illness. Angry and nearly unhinged, he recognized it was he who must change because the illness would not. Only at that point he was ready to grieve the loss of someone still there. Those who love someone with a serious mental illness should read this book. Caution: strong language for strong feelings. -- Pauline Boss, PhD, author of Ambiguous Loss (Harvard University Press) and Loving Someone Who Has Dementia (Jossey-Bass/John Wiley) I laughed aloud one moment and felt terrified the next. Super smart and compassionate. Honest and raw. A comfort to those struggling with the impact of mental illness. --Amy Sickel, PhD, professor and former psychiatric clinician, Columbia, Maryland Beautifully written and just plain honest. I can't even say how much I needed to read this book. --Kareem Smith, who supported his mother's battle with a mood disorder, St. Paul, Minnesota The work of a master storyteller, Unglued is a mixture of sadness and levity. It's a valuable resource for the mental health community, for consumers of mental health services and their -partners, and for providers. --Bruce Lackie, PhD, clinical social worker and trauma therapist, Orono, Maine

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