W in the Battle

The 3-Step Lifesaving Formula
to Conquer Depression
and Bipolar Disorder

by Bob Olson
with
Melissa Olson


"If winning your battle with depression (unipolar disorder) or manic-depression (bipolar disorder) is your goal, then this book is your treasure map for achieving that goal."

Thus begins Bob Olson's hopeful and inspiring book, Win the Battle, written for the 20 million Americans who suffer from these disorders and the 100 million people who love and support them.

He shares his true story of suffering and recovery--how his bright future dimmed as he sunk deeper and deeper into the ravages of depression, sleeping 18 hours a day and regularly contemplating suicide.

More importantly, this is a book of victory--of winning the battle against depression and regaining a life put on hold. Olson recounts his 5-year journey through a personal hell: His seemingly endless quest for relief from his symptoms of manic-depression included 15 medications and 21 shock treatments--all unsuccessful--before he finally found a treatment that worked.

Olson succeeded because he followed the Three-Step Lifesaving Formula, Belief--Action--Persistence, a proven formula that will teach your doctors, nurses, therapists, family members, friends, and you how to work as a team to beat your brain disorder.

[from the inside cover]
Olson, Win the Battle: The 3-Step Lifesaving Formula to Conquer Depression and Bipolar Disorder

About the Author
Bob Olson is an inspirational writer and speaker who has spoken to support groups and at related conferences on mental illness across the country. He communicates his message from the heart because he writes and speaks from experience. Olson suffered from manic-depression (bipolar disorder) for years before finding a treatment that has totally relieved him of all symptoms since 1994. He and his wife, Melissa, live in Worcester, Massachusetts.

[from the inside cover]

Table of Contents
A Word from My Doctor

 ix
PART I   1
1 Introduction   3
Follow Me, I Know the Way   4
Don't Be Led Astray   4
Proof That Your Brain Disorder Is Treatable   7
How Long Will It Take?   9
How Much Will It Cost?  10
The Three Steps Revealed  11
2 My Story  13
3 Belief  23
Our Beliefs Create Our Reality  24
A Belief in Hope Can Save Your Life  25
Beliefs Gain Strength in Numbers  27
Don't Wait for Everyone  31
4 Action  33
God Helps Those Who Help Themselves  34
The Choice of Your Lifetime  35
The Four Basic Actions
     That Worked for Me		  35
A Fifth Action That Can Work Miracles  39
Simple Efforts Can Bring
     Unexpected Rewards		  40
5 Persistence  45
Replacing "If..." with "When..."  46
The Key to Your Prison Window  48
Three Tools for Persistence  49
Turning Failure into Stepping Stones  55
6 Conclusion  59
Keeping It Simple  59
I Made the Effort--It Changed My Life  61
Helping Others Help You  62
Three Steps to Unlimited Achievement  63
Just Say No to Pessimists  65
The Only Real Limitation Is the
     One You Believe		  65
The Beauty of It All  66
Wish You Were Here

  68
7

 A Message to Your Doctor,
Therapist, Counselor, or Nurse

  71
8

 Melissa's Message to Those
Who Love and Support You

  79
PART II  87
9 The Truth about Labels  89
A Categorization of Your Symptoms  90
Extraordinary People Share Your Label  91
The Secret That Surrounds You  91
Stigma V. Support--A Difficult Choice  93
10 The Masks We Wear  97
Our Masks Confuse Our Family
     and Friends		  97
Express Verbally What You Are
     Hiding Physically		 100
A Major Cause for Misdiagnosis 101
Open the Lines of Communication 102
11 The Mystery of Suicide 105
Inappropriate Reactions
     to the Talk of Suicide		 106
A Desperate Need to Escape 107
Suicidal Thoughts--My "Get Out of
     Jail Free" Card		 108
Suicidal Thoughts Are a Serious
     Symptom of a Serious Disorder		 109
Suicide Prevention Should Begin
     before a Crisis Occurs		 112
12 The Trickery of Denial 117
Looking for Evidence of a Disorder 118
Looking for Evidence That I Was Better 119
The Blindness of Expectation 120
How to Recognize the Signs 121
Take Responsibility for Your
     Own Mental Health		 122
13 A Final Message of Hope 125
14 Resources 131
Books about Depression and
     Manic-Depression		 133
Index 135

[from the hardbound edition]


Reviews
"Bob Olson's book offers tremendous hope and inspiration for patients and their supporting loved ones, and it tells people they need to keep trying until they find an answer. This is a book that can make a real difference and is a unique contribution to the literature on mood disorders."

--Demitri F. Papolos, M.D., and Janice Papolos
authors of
Overcoming Depression

"This book is about the struggles of one person to achieve a better outcome and a better life for himself. He has told his story in a characteristically forthright way, illustrating graphically the vicissitudes, especially the periodicity and chronicity of his illness. The reader will, I believe, appreciate the bravery he showed in fighting to regain his mental health. This book inspires, as it was meant to do, because it tells a true story of a person, who, assisted and supported by his wife and by others, persisted against heavy odds to achieve relief from his suffering and gain significant restoration of his health.

"I recommend this story to you, and I am proud to have played a small part in its unfolding."

--From the Foreword by Phillip L. Isenberg, M.D.,
the author's treating doctor at McLean Hospital in Boston, MA

[from the back cover]
Read more reviews of this book on the
Amazon.com website:
Win the Battle: The 3-Step Lifesaving Formula
to Conquer Depression and Bipolar Disorder

Win the Battle: The 3-Step Lifesaving Formula to Conquer Depression and Bipolar Disorder on Amazon.com


Excerpts
If you were lost and all alone in a huge forest, you would have two choices of what to do. First, you could sit under a tree waiting for help. Second, you could pull out your map, determine the most logical way out, and start walking in that direction while yelling for help. Which choice do you think is more likely to save you?

Depression and manic-depression are a lot like being lost in a huge forest. If you are just waiting for your illness to go away, then you have made the first choice described above. If you have gone to a doctor for help, and are working with your doctor trying various ways to treat your illness, then you have made the second choice.

Notice that I wrote, "working with your doctor," as opposed to, "letting your doctor do all the work." Your doctor can't help you unless you are willing to follow his instructions. He knows the way out of the forest, but he isn't going to carry you out. He can only guide you. You have to do the work.

Win the Battle: The 3-Step Lifesaving Formula to Conquer Depression and Bipolar Disorder
pages 35-36


One of the biggest obstacles to your current challenge for mental health may be the limiting opinions of other people. While I recommend that you discuss the issues presented in this book with others, I also warn you that some people have a pessimistic outlook on life and may tell you things that are more likely to hurt you than to help you.

Some people might suggest that you should not get your hopes up--that you should "face the fact" that your brain disorder will handicap you for the rest of your life. The only advice I can offer you is that these people do not know what they are talking about. When it comes to depression and manic-depression, even the best doctors in the world will admit that they can't predict with certainty how any particular patient will respond to a treatment. The message this sends to me is that there is always hope. So don't let anyone tell you differently.

Win the Battle: The 3-Step Lifesaving Formula to Conquer Depression and Bipolar Disorder
page 65


If you find yourself making big changes in your life, you should look closer at the motive behind each one. It could be a job change. It could be a move to another city or state. It could be a relationship change. Even just moving to another house or apartment, or buying a new car, might be a sign that you are suffering inside but are blaming your pain on outside circumstances.

Of course, just one job change or relationship change does not mean there is definitely a problem. However, if you have been diagnosed with depression or manic-depression, I am just warning you that such a life change could be a red flag waving at you to be noticed. Certainly, if you have made many changes in your life, you should think twice about the underlying reason behind them all--especially if you had hoped these changes would eliminate some painful or empty feeling within you, but they didn't. Maybe the source of your painful or empty feeling is really an internal problem that should not be blamed on external circumstance.

Don't expect your doctor to notice these signs. My doctor never suspected a problem when she learned of my plans to move across the country. Despite the fact that I was giving up a lucrative business, had never been to Los Angeles, and was moving out there without a clue as to where I would live or work, my doctor never suggested there might be a hidden motive behind it all. Why not? Because I was so convinced that the Lithium was working, that I convinced her of it, too...

Win the Battle: The 3-Step Lifesaving Formula to Conquer Depression and Bipolar Disorder
pages 121-122

[from the hardbound edition]

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Win the Battle:
The 3-Step Lifesaving Formula
to Conquer Depression and Bipolar Disorder
Bob Olson's book
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