A funny and moving memoir from a girl with bipolar, including down-to-earth, practical advice for young people and those who love them.

Emily Reynolds is mad. After years of trying - and failing - to cope with her symptoms, she was finally diagnosed as bipolar in her early 20s.

Since then Emily has been on a mission to find the best way to live with her illness, and now she wants to share that knowledge with you. Living with mental illness is isolating, infuriating and painful - but also very boring and, sometimes, kind of gross. A Beginner's Guide to Losing Your Mind is a companion to make the journey feel a little less lonely.

A Beginner's Guide to Losing Your Mind offers advice on:

• How to deal with exam pressure at school and university
• Handling self-harm and suicidal thoughts
• Advice for your family and friends
• Tips for dating when you are mentally ill (and what to expect when you're on the other side)
• Learning how to navigate the Internet and the online mental health community
• Diagnosis, treatment and maintaining your mental health.

A blackly funny, deeply compassionate and extremely practical book, A Beginner's Guide to Losing Your Mind is a candid exploration of mental illness that is both a personal account of what it's like to live with mental illness and a guide to dealing with and understanding it.