Mrs. Tovornik, Cecie Kraynak, Tatjana Novak, Maja Valic, Darja Budja, Joe Kraynak, Sanja Svajger (Journalist) at Book Presentation in Ljubljana, Slovenia, October 12, 2009

Cecie and I participated in another book presentation for the Slovene edition of Bipolar Disorder for Dummies. Unlike the presentation on Saturday in Koper, this one was dedicated solely to the book and was much more effective in promoting it.

During the last couple days of our journey in Slovenia, I learned a few interesting tidbits about the book and about bipolar:

• Darja, the translator, pointed out that she not only needed to translate the book but also adapt it for Slovenia. A couple interesting adaptations included having to change the information on legal issues and disability in Chapter 13 and replacing Chapter 20, “Ten Ways to Fight the High Cost of Treatment” with a chapter on ten things not to do. (In Slovenia, everyone has health insurance that covers the cost of treatment… nice, huh?)
• Many people here mention Bipolar III and Bipolar IV. I’ve heard almost nothing about these classifications in the U.S. Darja showed me a relatively old publication (September, 1999) entitled “The evolving bipolar spectrum. Prototypes I, II, III, and IV,” by Akiskal, HS and Pinto O., where these types seem to have been first mentioned. As I understand it, Bipolar III is basically what we refer to as antidepressant- or stimulant-induced bipolar, while Bipolar IV describes cases in which the patient may demonstrate symptoms of hypomania for many years followed by at least one episode of severe depression.
• Several people with bipolar who attended the book presentation complained of seeing their doctors for depression, receiving an anti-depressant, and then experiencing mania. A couple people were understandably bitter about it, but one attendee pointed out that he found it best to put that behind him and deal with the current reality – now you have bipolar (with mania), so what are you going to do to manage it?
• One attendee who is currently hospitalized for mania was able to receive permission from the hospital to attend the event. Her family accompanied her, and her father expressed his frustration with the illness – the frustration and anger reminded me a great deal of how I felt when I first encountered bipolar and how I still sometimes feel. I hope he is able to work through this to some degree.

Media were in attendance, so we expect to see something in the Slovenian newspapers this morning and perhaps even on TV. We hope this will bring greater awareness and understanding of bipolar disorder among the wonderful people of Slovenia.

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From Psych Central's website:
PsychCentral (October 13, 2009)

I Feel Psychology (October 15, 2009)

    Last reviewed: 13 Oct 2009