A book inspired by Terri Cheney and her life with Bipolar. Made up of quotes from her two books; 'Manic:  A Memoir' and 'The Dark Side of Innocence:  Growing Up Bipolar', mixed with research for more detailed information.

'The Black Beast' is what Cheney called her disorder when it took over her mind and body, turning the chemical imbalance in her brain into a character helped her deal with it. With this in mind it felt like an appropriate title for a book all about the different aspects she had experienced because of her condition.

When approaching this project I had to consider the nature of Bipolar disorder. Cheney had written her books according to life events, what I wanted to portray were the emotions and feelings experienced when suffering with the condition. I began by separating the books into periods of mania, depression and looking at parts of her life affected by the treatment of her condition. This resulted in three small books with information and quotes from each section.

The book is put together to reflect the nature of Bipolar disorder. There is no set timeline as to when each part will affect your life, so the three books can be read in any order. All bound together as different parts of ‘the black beast’.

This part looks at the different treatments for bipolar and how it can affect someones life. Things aren’t as simple as taking the right pill to subdue the symptoms. Treatment for bipolar disorder is complicated and often works by trial and error, resulting in added stress from the condition.

The depression Cheney describes truly makes you feel for anyone suffering with such state of mind. Like mania depression affects every aspect of your life, from energy levels plummeting to experiencing physical pain.

Being manic is often misunderstood as simply a one dimensional hyper active state. When in reality it comes with many other symptoms, sexuality, eating habits, sleep and almost every other aspect of day to day life can be effected.