Mental Health Book Review: Birth of a New Brain by Dyane Harwood

Overall Rating:

The Mental Health Book Club Podcast loved this book, both Becky and Sydney gave it 5*.

We adored this book and could not put it down. Not only is its honestly infectious, Dyane writes in a way which means you cannot help but care for her. Dyane’s struggles with postpartum bipolar affective disorder is complex and heart-breaking. The support she gets from her husband and her doula (post birth support) is amazing, a role we had never heard of before.

Dyane’s honesty is raw and will leave you with a much better understanding of bipolar disorder. She reflects on her father’s struggles with the same illness and times in her past when she might have been experiencing it, unknowingly.

It is hard to read the treatments and failures in medication that Dyane goes through. The hope that something will work is finally reached but it is a long bumpy road. Her experiences with the controversial electroconvulsive therapy are explained without judgement. Dyane explains that everyone is an individual and owns the fact this is just her story. However, it is a story many can find hope and understanding.

This book is an amazing story by a courageous and strong lady who overcomes any obstacle put in front of her. She is an inspiration and now a friend.

Find our full review and an interview with Dyane at www.mentalhealthbookclub.com, on iTunes or where ever you get your podcasts.

Interview 1 – Dyane Harwood Author of Birth of a New Brain

Trigger warning: this podcast discusses mania, depression, suicide and extreme behaviour.

It was an absolute pleasure to speak to Dyane Harwood author of Birth of a New Brain were we talk about her journey with postpartum bipolar one, treatment resistant depression, hospitilasation, her wonderful family and more.

Get the book here

If you feel suicidal call 999 immediately.

If you need to talk you can contact:

Samaritans on:

Mental Health Resources:

Rethink Mental Illness

Mind The Mental Health Charity

  • Infoline: 0300 123 3393 (Our lines are open 9am to 6pm, Monday to Friday (except for bank holidays)
  • Text: 86463
  • http://bit.ly/2p6rntK

Social Media

Twitter:

Becky: @BLawrence85

Sydney: @sydney_timmins

Podcast: @MHBC_Podcast

Facebook

Podcast: https://www.facebook.com/MHBCpodcast/

Sydney: https://www.facebook.com/Sydney-Timmins-1695774814065575/

 

Episode 39 – Birth of a New Brain: Healing from Postpartum Bipolar Disorder by Dyane Harwood pt 2

Find out more at www.mentalhealthbookclub.com

Trigger warning: this podcast discusses mania, depression, suicide and extreme behaviour.

Get our next book here

If you feel suicidal call 999 immediately.

If you need to talk you can contact:

Samaritans on:

Mental Health Resources:

Rethink Mental Illness

Mind The Mental Health Charity

  • Infoline: 0300 123 3393 (Our lines are open 9am to 6pm, Monday to Friday (except for bank holidays)
  • Text: 86463
  • http://bit.ly/2p6rntK

Social Media

Twitter:

Becky: @BLawrence85

Sydney: @sydney_timmins

Podcast: @MHBC_Podcast

Facebook

Podcast: https://www.facebook.com/MHBCpodcast/

Sydney: https://www.facebook.com/Sydney-Timmins-1695774814065575/

Episode 39 – Birth of a New Brain: Healing from Postpartum Bipolar Disorder by Dyane Harwood pt 1

Find out more at www.mentalhealthbookclub.com

Trigger warning: this podcast discusses mania, depression, suicide and extreme behaviour.

Get our next book here

If you feel suicidal call 999 immediately.

If you need to talk you can contact:

Samaritans on:

Mental Health Resources:

Rethink Mental Illness

Mind The Mental Health Charity

  • Infoline: 0300 123 3393 (Our lines are open 9am to 6pm, Monday to Friday (except for bank holidays)
  • Text: 86463
  • http://bit.ly/2p6rntK

Social Media

Twitter:

Becky: @BLawrence85

Sydney: @sydney_timmins

Podcast: @MHBC_Podcast

Facebook

Podcast: https://www.facebook.com/MHBCpodcast/

Sydney: https://www.facebook.com/Sydney-Timmins-1695774814065575/

Book 16 – Birth of a New Brain: Healing from Postpartum Bipolar Disorder by Dyane Harwood


After the birth of her baby triggers a manic maelstrom, Dyane Harwood struggles to survive the bewildering highs and crippling lows of her brain’s turmoil. Birth of a New Brain vividly depicts her postpartum bipolar disorder, an unusual type of bipolar disorder and postpartum mood and anxiety disorder.

During her childhood, Harwood grew up close to her father, a brilliant violinist in the Los Angeles Philharmonic who had bipolar disorder. She learned how bipolar disorder could ravage a family, but she never suspected that she’d become mentally ill—until her baby was born.

Harwood wondered if mental health would always be out of her reach. From medications to electroconvulsive therapy, from “redwood forest baths” to bibliotherapy, she explored both traditional and unconventional methods of recovery—in-between harrowing psychiatric hospitalizations.

Harwood reveals how she ultimately achieved a stable mood. She discovered that despite having a chronic mood disorder, a new, richer life is possible. Birth of a New Brain is the chronicle of one mother’s perseverance, offering hope and grounded advice for those battling mental illness.