What is bipolar disorder, after all? How is it connected to love, guilt, and anger? How can the frenzied spending, intense feeling of connection to the world, excessive self-confidence, and sexual liberation that characterize the manic episodes be explained? And how can we understand the despair and sadness that soon follow the euphoric periods?

Darian Leader offers interpretive guidelines that can change lives. An essential reading for mental health professionals, those trapped in manic-depressive states, and anyone interested in the configuration of self in our time.