Long story short, this was a disappointment.

Short story long: the first problem was that I was expecting more of a cultural than a medical history, which is totally on me. Still, I have read multiple books on the history of mental illness and this offered absolutely nothing new. Most of the time it did not focus on bipolar disorder but things around it. I don't think the author did a good job explaining why he was focusing on these topics instead of bipolar disorder itself.

I found that the book lacked depth and focused, predictably, on psychopharmacology and the chokehold this industry has on us. However, he could have discussed the benefits of medication as well, especially when the topic is bipolar disorder. Well, maybe he did, but I lost my interest and focus as the book droned on. The author chose to discuss "science and commerce" when it would have made more sense to focus on science and capitalism.

As per usual, the book was very US-centric despite the author being (apparently) Irish. It would be fantastic to sometimes read about the history of medicine somewhere else, even in Europe, since any euro-american-centric point of view is surely impossible (I'm being sarcastic here; it would be possible but it's just harder and "nobody cares", but ok).

I learned nothing new, which is the worst part, possibly also because as I said, I've alrady read multiple books on history of medicine. However, this book is not the best for understanding bipoalr disorder or mental illness in general. I mean, the name of the book is "Mania", which is just one part of bipolar disorder.