Ian Reynirs Book: A (Premature) Review.

This thread is for anyone who has Ian's book- (Don't have the title handy, I think it's [edited]. (I believe Exile and maybe Keenie have it too.)

Unfortunately, I will be abandoning this book about a third of the way through because of a book discussion on my other forum, I always have like five books going and this one needs to be replaced for the moment.

So, without further ado, i'll brush through the negatives quickly but I think we're all pretty aware of them so I won't dwell, and then mention the positives as well.

So far, we have risen from one to two to three stars.

Negatives:
*Virtually no science except for mentioning that there is not enough science.
*Simple writing, not intellectually challenging unless you think about a lot of stuff on your own.
*The advice is not suitable for all personalities, definitely not mine- a lot of it is about focus, goals, and achievement- three things that are not necessarily applicable to everyone- I think society already pushes us to do this too much. The authors want you to relax and have fun with these goals rather than pushing beyond your limits or stressing yourself out- but I personally have found it very useful to my mental state to indulge in a variety of healthy interests (not just coping stuff) but genuine interests. My state of mind and "what is good" for me varies from day to day and sometimes multiple times a day. Yes, there are themes in people's lives but total focus is not essential and can be detrimental to many people.

Positives:
*Motivating! Some of the stuff is actually pretty motivating outside of bipolar. Ian and the other author are mountain climbers, and I'm a runner, I love to run half marathons, it's something that I'm constantly focused on- The book helps you realize that goal setting and working towards something doesn't need to be stressful- it can be constantly fun, regardless of failures and setbacks. I've found that when taking this book with an open mind, it really motivates me to go for a run.

*The idea that life is a balancing act of spiritual, intellectual, and physical activities. It seems to imply that some bipolar people have more of a need in some of these areas, (the authors seem to have a need for immense physical and intellectual activity, more so than the general population.) I think there is a lot of truth in this for myself and with the intensity of feeling in bipolar people, this could be true- we need to satisfy a need.

In my case, over the course of my life, I have developed very intense need in all three areas- I need to be constantly reading, talking, discussing- challenging myself mentally- (in the case of reading the book, my level of agreement is low, but just the act of reading it challenges me because I'm trying to see the other perspective, and that has challenged me mentally a lot despite the writing style.) Spiritually I was almost out of control after developing bipolar, quickly going into grand views of how the world connects, or visions of talking to God that are parallel to many of the prophets in biblical times. (This is altered with the severe slowness of body and mind that follows).
I always need to be running or ripping my body apart with strength classes. I think my intensity of need in all three areas is so great for a large portion of time that it has driven me to madness.

In this sense- perhaps abandoning my normal view of "broad interests are good" and taking on set goals could be beneficial. (I don't think so, but it's possible.) Is this true for all bipolar people? Possibly, possibly.

*Most of all, props to the authors for both going off meds with these insights, and also the book only mentions this as an alternative to meds maybe once or twice in the beginning so far, but it really overall doesn't talk about meds at all- the posts by Ian imply that he has some kind of a fierce vendetta against people being on meds because of his own experience- the book barely says a peep about meds which makes it more palatable.

So yea, three stars for now, i'll get back to it soon! Thanks for the book, Ian- 10 dollars well spent despite my previous harsh words.

I'd like to hear what others think.

-- Sun Jan 27, 2013 2:17 pm --

Edit: And yes, I'm running a bit on the hypomanic today- the "intensity of feeling" is radiating through my post so much because of this. Too much time on the SAD light still, it's addictive. Don't tell my doc.

I must admit the way Ian posts on the forum has put me off the book so far. It is on my list, but while I read 2-3 new books on the topic in the meantime, this one remained on the list.

*edited*

My biggest issue with it is he doesn't say what he's a phd in, leaving you to assume he's an expert in the field. IJ touched on that in his first link. (lol)

I don't read linearly so there are parts of the book I haven't read. I think this excerpt from page 197 pretty much defines the book.

Getting off of the 2000 foot barren slope was not too bad except for two gusts that nearly blew him off. He finally made it to the trees, at which point he quickly unzipped his bib (long pants with suspenders that have a crescent shaped zippered flap in the back ) to take a number two. All of a sudden a gust of wind came at exactly the wrong time. It was not fun, but no harm was done.He cleaned up and headed back to his tent.

Great reading.

Infinite_Jester wrote:*edited*

Infinite Jester, you are a moderator. One of your purposes here is to make it a safe place for everyone. It pains me that you would stoop to such levels and create such a personal attack on someone.

Exiled, I believe he has a Phd in Aerospace Engineering

While I'm not condoning ad hominem, I am also put off by the fact that many will get off their medication and buy the book in the hopes that maybe they will get better, but most likely it won't. Based on the review, the method sounds a lot like the behavioral activation component of CBT, which also stresses goal setting, and we know is not very effective for bipolar. Unfortunately, a lot of people with bipolar desperately want to be off medication so this book certainly has a target market that has the potential to sell, and naturally this makes me suspicious. At its best light, it is a misguided attempt to help people that desperately needs to be put under scientific scrutiny.

Cheze2 wrote:Infinite Jester, you are a moderator. One of your purposes here is to make it a safe place for everyone. It pains me that you would stoop to such levels and create such a personal attack on someone.

Yes, how awful of me to make captions out of the things that Ian Reynir says...

In regards to what you said about the role of moderators, one of the things we do to keep the forums in top shape is filtering out spam. Every day there are about two dozen bots that copy and paste advertisements to cheap porn, psychic readings, weight loss regimens, and so on. However, even when we try our best to keep people from coming to the forum and selling stuff, sometimes they still get by. Case and point is Ian Reynir, who spends all day advertising his book on the forum. He's been mooching off our sites audience for weeks now and people still haven't figured it out. So if there's something I should be doing as a moderator, it should be throwing out his threads with the rest of the spam.

Nonetheless, if you really feel sorry for Ian, feel free to buy a few copies of his books to sooth his emotional wounds.

With that said, I'm moving this thread to "Self Help Books" because it's a self help book (that technically Ian isn't supposed to be advertising on our site at all but we'll just give him another free pass because, what the hell, he's been selling his books here for three weeks so we might as well make it an even month )

Gamer wrote:While I'm not condoning ad hominem, I am also put off by the fact that many will get off their medication and buy the book in the hopes that maybe they will get better, but most likely it won't. Based on the review, the method sounds a lot like the behavioral activation component of CBT, which also stresses goal setting, and we know is not very effective for bipolar. Unfortunately, a lot of people with bipolar desperately want to be off medication so this book certainly has a target market that has the potential to sell, and naturally this makes me suspicious. At its best light, it is a misguided attempt to help people that desperately needs to be put under scientific scrutiny.

Gamer, I can understand your suspicions. While I want to make it clear that I do not agree with Ian Reynir's approach to selling his book, nor do I necessarily agree with many of the points that he makes, I do believe that each and every person has the right to choose what is best for them in their own recovery. That could mean on or off of medications. It could mean becoming a member of a convent. It could mean trying to become an astronaut. It could mean literally, anything so long as that person found it to be helpful to them. I think we honestly have a real problem here on psych forums where so many people have been brainwashed thinking that the only way to recovery is through therapy and medication for the rest of their lives. While this may be true for some people, and some people may find this to be the route that is most helpful to them, it does not mean that everyone will find it this way. I think we need to be more open to an individual's right to figure out for themselves that is going to work for them and not bashing someone just because their ideas are different than our own.


Infinite_Jester- I PM'd you my response.