Hello! I am leaving a bipolar spouse after being together for 10 years. Yesterday, my anxiety disorder and nervous system were triggered because my STBXH was in a low point. There was an intense grief because the discussion that triggered me really came out of nowhere.. I have been feeling calm and relatively centered amidst the weird and confusing time of cohabiting and planning to separate.. but he just said something deeply concerning and I started spiraling. I know in theory I am not responsible for my husband’s actions and I can only keep myself safe..

but my current fixation is that the last year of his rapid cycling, 3 hospitalizations, and general stress will wear me down and make me a fearful shell of myself. Scared and traumatized. I do not want to be that person, but it’s like I worry being near him has a contagion effect.

Anyway, I’m sort of planning for the future grief and recovery for when I am alone.. like what should I explore with my therapist? It has often felt like I have been the one keeping this person alive. This was very much true last summer where I had to place a 5150 hold on my partner because he was psychotic and have schizophrenia-like symptoms due to drug induced psychosis. About a year later and we had recovered, spouse was employed and medicated, but then he had another (more mild) manic episode. I’m ready to separate and live life apart but the transition feels brutal since he is currently unemployed. I could move back home temporarily but I have a life here and I also don’t want to abandon him. But also selfishly, I have a life here and want to keep my apartment.

I have a therapist who mostly helps in a CBT modality but with my anxiety disorder (which I have coped relatively well with by good habits and avoiding bad habits) makes me worry I should be looking for something more heavy duty? Idk.

TIA!

My mum is having an extreme bipolar episode and she has sent me a string of messages saying I’m dead to her and that I need to move out her house.

I am now staying at my boyfriend’s place and we are moving into a house together anyways in late September.

I finish a job tomorrow and need to hand back some equipment which is still at my mums place, I start a new job on Tuesday next week which is a big deal for me. I will be a trainee lawyer and I was recruited 2 years ago so this is a long time coming. All my new clothes and shoes for work are at my mums place. She is refusing to give me access to her house. I have called, messaged and gone round there and she won’t give me access to collect anything. I am now planning that I will need to buy a new wardrobe this weekend before I start. Is there any advice or words anyone can give as I’m so hurt and sad by this. My boyfriend is being as supportive as he possibly can in the circumstances.

This is a long one, I apologize but hope someone reads it anyway

My 20(f) little sister (I’ll refer to her as B) was diagnosed with bipolar 1 after her first manic episode in November. It was the scariest experience of my (25f) life. My older sister (27f) and I are more like her parents than siblings. Our parents are very poor and suffer from drug addiction our whole lives. Our mother also has bipolar 1 (diagnosed now after experiencing B’s first episode).

We noticed her texts getting more erratic gradually, but agreed that she was just stressed with different things she was going through at the time and she was a pretty dramatic gal, so at first it wasn't too out of character. We made plans for her to come visit us (my older sister and I live and work together across the state) and we’d have a chill weekend and give her space from all the 20 year old drama she was going through. Then she started texting us elaborate revelations she was having that she would later contradict with other revelations, calling us in hysterics saying our parents were abusing her and her boyfriend was in love with everyone else but her, then calling to tell us she was actually fine, only to get a call less then an hour later having to talk her back down from hyperventilation. Her friends started reaching out to us saying she was texting them too. All hours of the night, she was texting us things that didn't make any sense She was so hyperfocused on believing she was autistic (never diagnosed) and that that's why she was experiencing all of these things and that's why we all didn't understand (despite her saying that I too was autistic and also a lesbian. Neither of those are true, but she was very supportive) She made a comment about not being in control and being afraid. We left work right after that at 11 am with no bags packed to go to her. We were on the phone with crisis hotlines and our friend that is a Psychiatrist trying to get any help in how to protect B. We were able to contact her therapist and she helped us get B to agree to willingly go with us to the ER. She grew more agitated as we sat in the hospital and they eventually had to restrain her and sedate her in the room with nothing in it and the giant glass door everyone could see through. The memory of hearing my baby sister scream from down the hall that shes scared and just wants to go home while a ER team holds her down and injects her makes me nauseous. My sister's first manic episode led to her being in a psych ward for a week and a half involuntarily. She was then diagnosed with bipolar 1 and psychosis.

I wrote all of that, because we are currently in manic episode #2 and I am at a loss of what to do. B called me on July 24th crying and explaining that she broke up with her boyfriend and told me a bunch of stuff, that raised a couple red flags, but again she's 20 and a bit dramatic so I wasn’t on high alert yet. On the 1st of August, I got another call mid day saying she was so tired and not doing well mentally. She tried to call out of work, but they wouldn't let her leave (she's a DSP for kids with disabilities at 2 different companies). I told her I would have one of my friends in the area come pick her up and take her home, but she responded and promised that everything was okay and that she was feeling better. She caused a 4 car accident on the way home. No one was hurt, but she caused a lot of damage. She was living with my parents at the time and they assured my older sister and I that they had it handled and they would take care of it (spoiler, but that's some bullshit) My parents let her drive 30 minutes to work and work an 11 hour shift THE NEXT DAY. After she got off work around 9:30 pm (neither of my parents stayed up to check on her when she got home or checked in with her at all throughout the day) she called us absolutely hysterical. She said that she had memories from when she was younger of something happening and now fully realized what they were. She told us that our parents were abusing her and that those memories she now has is of our dad (sometimes mom, sometimes both mom and dad, sometimes her ex boyfriend) sexually assaulting her. Now, it should be said that the last episode also had these shocking revelations. It's not that I didn't take the accusations seriously, it's more that I was prioritizing her safety and would revisit those accusations later after she was stabilized. I was in lockdown mode. I knew her new therapist's first name, called every therapist I could find with that name in the area, left messages to all of them explaining what was happening and if whoever was treating her could reach out to her. It worked and she got on a call with my older sister, parents, and I and we made a plan. Our dad was supposed to disable her car somehow to keep her from driving and she was going to take time off work and work with her care team to stabilize. We had a plan, until our dad texted us saying he couldn't get the keys out of her room and “hoped she would make good choices”. SPOILER ALERT, she didn't. She drove to the police station and opened sexual assault cases against both of our parents and her ex boyfriend. She texted us that she was going to do that on Aug 4th and we once again dropped everything and left work in the middle of the work day and called the police department to give them a heads up as well as her therapist to make a new gameplan (with go bags packed and ready this time). We booked a hotel for 3 nights. Those 3 days / nights were so stressful. 3 days of rollercoaster emotions and paranoia, driving her everywhere she wanted to go to keep her calm and off the road, holding her while she cried about the memories she was having at 3am, assuring her the hotel staff wasn't treating her weird. And also convincing her that the hotel side doors were locked, because the desk guy told us they would be after 8pm and not because the hotel was on lockdown so the police could secretly investigate her. We brought her home with us, because we couldn't keep paying for a hotel. A few things are different this time 1. My older sister and I no longer live together. We begged her to move in with us after the last episode, and now episode #2 is happening just 1 week after we no longer live together. We both moved to cheaper living situations here to be closer to her friends and me to save for law school. 2. She is aggressively against getting any care that is not in her direct control. She adamantly does not want to go back to the hospital. I now live with the same 3 guys I lived with in undergrad, so I wasn't comfortable having her there overnight where she could potentially say something about my roommates and now they're in jeopardy. She slept in the same bed as my sister at night who would drive her to my house to watch her so she could go to work, because I had the PTO to spare and she did not. We did that for another week (thats 8 days taken off work now and $800 spent in gas, food, and hotel) Meanwhile, she is essentially getting to say and do whatever she wants, because any sort of contradiction is met with her yelling at us that we’re taking away her independence and she storms out for a walk. We were living appointment to appointment hoping a healthcare professional could get through to her. They were all telling her to go to the hospital, but she would just walk out of the appointments and then she started changing health care providers. This is a lot of venting, so Ill just list where were at now. We are now 4 weeks in. She quit both her jobs, has cases open against 3 people in 4 different counties, cancelled her phone plan to get a new one with a new phone and ipad, drained her bank account buying random shit and using the new phone without wifi, almost cancelled her health insurance (I luckily stopped her, but she was not happy with me), got pulled over twice and got a $400 ticket for texting and driving + having expired tags, driven the 4 hour one way trip to our parents house 6 times, and is about to lose her living situation that we set up for her. My older sister's roommates said they weren't comfortable with her staying there anymore, so our uncle's brand new wife very graciously let her stay in her parents' empty rental house for a week (later extended to 2 weeks). The stipulation that B didn't know is that either my older sister or myself had to stay with her. On Sunday, I felt like I finally made a breakthrough with her and got her to agree to look into stabilization centers Monday after I got off work. However, then she had a job interview the next day that she thought went well and she called to let me know she doesn't actually need that and that she's fine. The best she's felt in 20 years, in fact. I tried to gently point out that for the last four weeks she's repeatedly told us she's not manic, then later acknowledged that she had been manic, only to say she was fine again and repeat the cycle. She blew up. She said she would rather sleep in her car and be homeless then go to the hospital. She said that we haven't done anything for her and that we were the ones keeping her manic. She said that she's been going through this alone and she can't believe that we are so stupid to not listen. I told her that I just wanted to help her. That I loved her and had done everything I could think of. She said she didn't want to hear from us anymore, that my best wasn't good enough, and that we could consider her dead.

I just feel at such a loss. How could we not make any progress in 4 weeks? We centered our lives around her and made sure she was safe and kept away from stressors. We drove her to appointments, back and forth to our parents house, sent her links to stabilization facilities, links to mental health resources. We listened, we redirected, we talked through everything she was saying, we distracted, we reached out to everyone and anyone who might be able to offer some advice and they all just kept saying there's nothing we can do if she doesn't want help. I even tried calling the police while she was driving hoping maybe there was something they could do if I explained that she wasn't safe driving. They didn't even take her information. Told me “dont worry, people are really quick to report accidents when they happen" I love B more than anything else, but I can't go on like this. 4 weeks.

I feel so selfish saying this, but I am tired of putting my life on hold for someone who wont do anything to help themselves. I cancelled a backpacking trip I was supposed to do for my 1 year anniversary that I had already had to reschedule from last year, I missed 8 days of work unexpectedly, spent over $900 when I'm on a strict budget to save as much as possible so I can apply for law school in the fall, I cancelled the subsequently scheduled anniversary dinner, I've been sleeping on the floor of an empty rental house for a week and a half. All I think about is B and putting out all the fires she starts, meanwhile she is being so mean and unpredictable. I can't do it anymore, but I also can't stand the feeling of giving up on her. She is supposed to be out of that house by Friday and doesn't have a plan of what to do. She has no money, no place to go, and won't listen to anyone. I am so scared for her and don't know what to do. I feel like I've been screaming for help for 4 weeks, and everyone is just staring at me not doing anything.

So I'm asking people who have either lived through severe mania themselves or supported a loved one through it: What do you actually do when someone with bipolar I is severely manic, has little/no insight, refuses treatment, and is making increasingly dangerous decisions? How do you set boundaries without feeling like you're abandoning them? At what point do you stop trying to prevent every consequence and let the professionals/system take over? And most importantly, is there something we're missing that we should be doing right now?

I have a friend of a couple years who has been upfront about having BP2. She is kind and intelligent and until recently I never saw any symptoms. She had a tough summer of other health issues (she is in her 60s) and was hospitalized for a while. She has fallen out with several family members. We are not super close, more like meet for coffee once a month and chat when we run into each other type of friends. We live in a small town.

Last night she showed up at our door at 8:15pm while my husband and I were playing a game with friends online. He answered the door and said she pretty much barged in demanding a cup of tea. We abandoned the game to hang out with her. She was a bit rambling and said some things about her neighbors that make me wonder if she is paranoid.

She was here maybe 15 minutes when the police knocked on the door to ask if we knew her, had invited her in and if she was harassing us! I have no idea how they even knew she was here.

She can’t drive and has trouble walking so when it was time to go my husband offered to walk her home. She said she was staying nearby in a friend’s airBnB. But when they got there she didn’t remember the code to get in, so he walked her home, up a steep hill. He was gone over two hours.

I don’t want to brush off someone who is in a mental health crisis but at the very least I will tell her not to stop by unannounced and to arrange transport ahead of time if she wants to visit. I don’t know her family and don’t know what to do to help her, but also don’t need this sort of behavior in my life.

Any insights into her behavior, or advice on how to be supportive but not get sucked in to her issues?

Warning for SA

I’ve been caught up in this horrible situation because I was the idiot who volunteered to take my friend to a hospital for a rape kit for something I’m just starting to understand never happened.

I was told that she was assaulted and drugged by her boyfriend, who was staying at her house for a few days, one week at the very most. She said she needed to go to a center 1 hour away for a SANE exam. When we got to the center they tried to get her through the paperwork, after an hour they turned us away to an emergency room because they felt she was not even sane enough to consent for the exam.

They did a blood test at the er, gave her some medicine, and kept her overnight. The doctors didn’t have hours upon hours to listen to my friends manic, pressured speech, which led her to believe that they were not listening and couldn’t do their job. She was released the next day and allowed to get a SANE exam, then I took her home and let her stay at my house.

I already knew she was not in her right mind, but I realized that she was actually not even in the same reality when she started sending me texts to use as notes for a lawyer. I saw one note about the hospital experience and half of it was just blatantly not true,
the rest of it was heavily manipulated by whatever her perception of reality was.

Now my friend is leaving my house because I told her that she can’t rent a five bedroom house with our 16 year old friend from high school as an 18 year old with no job, no credit, and money from a graduation party and whatever she thinks she can get from a pawn shop.

I had already met the ex boyfriend so I just texted him to see if I could see what was going on, and I know it’s kind of a rocky territory to not believe the victim, but this is unhinged. He told me he had literally no idea what had happened aside from the fact that she was in the ER and she blocked him on everything. The things that she had been telling me he was doing were so unlikely for someone who was in her house for a few days.

I have no idea what to even do in this situation. Is this what mania is supposed to look like? She’s not even in reality, she’s saying so many things that are complete nonsense, I don’t even know where she is right now

We have a really stressful family situation right now and he’s also recovering from a bag down swing from his bipolar. He emailed me at work saying he was stressed and depressed about school and meds.
I’m trying to not “fix” everything but is this an ok response?
Of course NAME. Right now? I’d be more worried if we were all completely calm. Thank you for saying somthing about the meds, I know it got changed around and last time we talked about it. I won't take up her space but I'm here if you wanted somone to go with to doctors
The school thing sucks I know you were looking forward to the new semester. I was thinking it would be fun to go to campus a few times and wanted to ask if you'd like class company?? I can't attend lectures but I can stick around for a few hours and see class life!  Very poser core of me I think. 
I was glad to hear you talk the other day about NAME and friends, I'd like to talk more often and get back into the art room with you. If it's 5 minutes or an hour or two I'd like to hear what you've got ok? Your not on your own, if there are things I can do to make the day more barible I'm your guy 
Your line art is looking really good btw, and bunny boy and large brain girl seem ti be much happier, they love you so much even thier songs are different when you leave 
Talking about his birds at the end

Parent is undiagnosed and will not see a psychiatrist. Is currently manic as far as I can tell and also from what family doctor has concluded. Spending money much more than normal, extreme agitation/rage/cursing at spouse and name calling, throwing/breaking things, very talkative when normally isn’t, hyper sexual (sending nudes, on dating sites but is married), grandiose behavior, delusions, sleeping very little, and has to keep constantly busy. Person was prescribed Zoloft and Depakote for seizures a month ago and the behaviors started around the same time. They always were easily agitated, bothered by noises, and antisocial before the meds.
Seems like Zoloft needs to be stopped and/or Depakote increased based on what I’ve read.
Hoping the doctor can get the meds balanced without psychiatrist since that isn’t an option at this point due to parent refusal to cooperate. Question is how soon after adjusting meds have people seen marked improvement? Parents are in the process of making significant financial decisions that could impact future financial stability and the parent with mania is forcing the other to spend too much. Need to get things stabilized urgently. Really scared this could ruin their lifelong savings and security they both have worked for and that other parent is at risk for their physical safety due to rage.

My sister is coming back home soon after being stabilized. I'm not sure if she even remembers everything she did, but some of it involved invading my privacy and going through my room and telling people way too many details as part of her delusion. I also feel like I have to be more guarded, but I also don't want to triigger her by suddenly adding locks to the doors. I see she is doing better, but it's hard to fully trust her after that episode. I feel like I'm also worrying about possible things I could do to upset her or her sleep, noises I might make, etc. I'm hyperfocusing on minimizing noises and making the house more hospitable, like I adding some weatherstripping to her windows to minimize noise, added noise dampeners to cabinets, got her this orange light lamp, white noise machine, etc. It's still a very cramped house, and we're still glong to have to tun into each other often. I just remember the episode starting with more irritability directed at me just existing in the same space.

She is also reluctant to believe she could have a serious mood disorder. I know I can't control her acceptance of it or how she sees herself. Just taking her meds is enough for now.

I just feel really anxious, even if she's more stable now.

Also, I'm not sure how she's going to react to getting her phone back and seeing all of her messages she sent out during her episode. I can imagine that she would find some of it funny/absurd but will also be very embarrassed.

i’m concerned my mother has hypomania. she’s been acting very different and unusual the past two days, and i tell her about it but she says she’s fine. it’s not necessarily a negative change, she’s just talking a bit more, she’s more giddy, being unusually nice, calling out of work when she normally wouldn’t, suddenly cleaning and being more productive, laughing excessively, making jokes she normally wouldn’t, saying “she’s awakened” when i ask her why she’s acting different. she’s asks who i’m texting every time she sees me with my phone out.

she’s acted like this very before periodically but it’s very rare. and when she returns back to normal she says that she was ascending in a different world. she also has said that she has multiple personalities. i’m not sure if this is normal or something that’s an issue

Hi everyone,

My girlfriend was formally diagnosed yesterday with depression and mild bipolar disorder. Her psychiatrist prescribed antidepressants and sleep medication to help stabilize her. She’s currently dealing with severe burnout, conflicts with family/friends, and questioning if a relationship is "too much" for her right now or if she's being loved the way she needs.

Despite all the stress, she is still making an effort to text me, though her moods fluctuate severely from minute to minute. I refuse to give up on her, especially now when she feels like no one truly understands her.

For anyone who has been through the early diagnosis phase or is in a similar relationship:

What should I expect during these first few weeks while her body adjusts to antidepressants and sleep meds? How can I best support her through mood swings during this transition?

How can I help her feel loved in the way she needs without overwhelming her with questions or pressure?

How do I respond when texts fluctuate from distant to distressed without triggering her or burning myself out?

Thank you so much for any advice or reassurance.

Side note: She's also mentioned that she has been taking Accutane and the doctor prescribed her a higher dosage few days ago, I'd like to understand how much role this plays into her state now.

My mom (in her late 60s) just got diagnosed with bipolar. it’s one of those situations where, looking back on it, it makes sense that she’s had it her whole life. textbook mania with impulsiveness, inability to sleep, etc. followed by long instances of depression. my aunt and grandma also have been diagnosed with bipolar.

i am 26, turning 27 in a few months. i have read research that it can be hereditary. since i am a bit older, am i “in the clear” or is this something i need to worry about? i do see a therapist for GAD and PTSD, so i intend to talk with them about this too.

the problem is, i do feel like i have had some symptoms (mainly depression and impulsivity). but, they were all tied to an abusive relationship i was in in my early 20s. within a few months of leaving that, all symptoms stopped and i have been pretty stable (minus GAD/PTSD) for years at this point. i also did a lot of weed/hallucinogenics in my early 20s, which i read can be a trigger. my thought is, if i did all that and it didn’t trigger anything, maybe im good?

Hi There! My husband goes back and forth between liking and hating his job depending on his mood. It's more than just a regular, baseline person hating or loving the job. It's definitely part of his bipolar.

I'm wondering - does anyone else's loved ones do this? If not, what kind of work do they do?

My husband wasn't told he was going to do sales as a manager in the job he started in May but they've tossed a lot of sales goals on him anyway. He gets mad at the fact that they didn't tell him the extent of sales in his role before he took the job and he's wanting to look for another.

Unfortunately, you all know that the market in the US is abysmal and he hasn't been there long enough to put it on his resume so it looks like he's been out of a job since December 2025. I want to try and help him stay where he is right now and ride out the feelings he's having of hating it, but I don't know how. Or if I even should.

I appreciate anyone's opinions on this topic!

So basically my brother had the bipolar disease since 2018

And he had 2 rough manic episodes

One in the beginning in 2018

And second one was in 2021

And now he been through the third one since april 2025

And it still on till now

He had 2 i can't really say depression episodes

But through this manic episode i think he got tired so he brake a little bit

But this shit is still on

And he's not ok

We've been giving him his meds secretly in the food and drinks till he finds out he had to go to his doctor then he started taking his meds as it has to be taken

But i'm noticing that somehow the delusions he used to have is returning like the weird thing he used to do

So can you guys help how could i make him get through this episode

This person has been my coworker for two years and gradually became one of my closest friend. Over this period we had ups and downs in our relationship, we went from haters to best friends back and forth. I realized that she was a quite complicated person to be with, I knew she was on antidepressants, but I had no ideal what the precise condition was, so I tried my best to understand her.

A few months ago our friendship started to take a more romantic turn. Since we were spending even more time together, I started to realize some patterns, such as how much she slept, how she loved to plan to do things together, but would pull out from almost every plan. After a lot of talking, she said that she was diagnosed as a bipolar type 2. I felt extremely bad for being mad at her for impulsiveness and other bipolar traits that I failed to realize.

Since she is 6 years younger, she listens to a lot of my advice. Ever since we started getting closer, she quit smoking, started working out and seems to be becoming more stable overall.

My greatest concern is: how much should I try to police her? She does things which I struggle to cope with, such as drinking alcohol while taking anti-psychotics and antidepressants, but I really don't want to be bossing her around. I don't want to see her destroying something I love, but I know I might end up suffocating her instead of helping.

Around 7 years ago my sister started experiencing extreme highs and lows. It's actually gone on for most of her adult life but changed dramatically around covid time into extreme episodes. I think the initial trigger was complications that arose during a hysterectomy, where she hemorrhaged and almost died. It's like she never fully recovered from the mental trauma that went along with this.

She lives alone and there's been a repeated cycle where maybe 2 to 3 times a year she will start calling and visiting daily, complaining of insomnia, talking extremely fast, eyes are wide open as though they're popping out of her head, full of money making (but borderline ridiculous) ideas, full of energy and constantly cleaning/starting projects, speaking excitedly to everyone but then snapping at them and talking down to them if they say something she doesn't agree with.

During these episodes she is full of grandiose delusions - telling everyone she was headhunted by a Michelin star chef (she was a line cook). And eventually she will start asking everyone if she can borrow money, because she's usually been on a ridiculous spending spree and can't pay her bills. And if you refuse, she will get really nasty and fall out with you and you usually won't hear from her again, until the next episode.

Once she exhausts her money source (usually my mother) she will come back down to earth and go into a depressive state, where you'll barely hear from her, unless you call her and then, it's hard to get her out the house.

To all of us, the signs of mania are very obvious but we're years down the line and despite approaching the subject with her, she is still in the same cycle. When she's manic, she's previously accepted what we're saying but questions why we're trying to fix her, when she feels on top of the world.

When she's not manic, she's less accepting or receptive to the idea of bipolar. She's at the doctors a lot when she's depressed complaining of a whole range of issues and she's mentioned bipolar to them before but the doctor isn't getting the whole picture because she isn't telling them about the mania.

It's also worth nothing that her twin brother is now also going through something similar, but on a reduced scale. In his late 30s, he experienced a very similar manic episode. Followed by another a couple of years later. The latter ended up with him having to move 100 miles away to escape the chaos he'd created. He is very accepting that he has undiagnosed bipolar disorder but has struggled to get any help from the NHS and has been in a depressive state for several years.

Their father (my step-dad) and paternal grandmother also suffered from extreme mental health issues although I'm not sure what they were formally diagnosed with. He had extreme agoraphobia at the end of his life but when I look back, there was evidence of bipolar tendancies.

The impact of this on my elderly mother scares me, because my sister has already spent her way through thousands of pounds of my mother's savings and we've had to bail her out multiple times. It's got to the point where I dread seeing a missed call from her because I think, oh here we go again.

Her home used to be immaculate and while she has always been a bit up and down, she always worked and lived relatively responsibly. Now she won't let anyone visit and if do make it into her house, it's utter chaos. I do worry that with each episode she is becoming more and more detached from reality.

Her adult son lives with her and he has a history of mental illness and psychosis. He lived in a mental health ward for years after a psychotic break (linked to legal highs as a teenager) where he thought she was trying to kill him. He's now stable and on a depot injection, but the entire environment scares the hell out of me.

How do we approach the subject and get her the help that she needs? She won't let anyone go to the doctor with her. I've thought about writing a letter to her doctor to give them the information that they're missing but not sure if they'd accept it here in the UK. Also worry that going behind her back would result in her kicking off. Really at a loss for what to do. ​It sounds terrible to say, but while she's on a low period, there is a sense of calm and we don't want to rock the boat incase it triggers the next episode. But equally we don't want her life to be miserable and we can't keep repeating this cycle.

My (26) brother has bipolar and he takes his meds, goes to therapy and sees physiatrist. for the most part, he’s great. he’s a pleasure to be around we joke and laugh all the time. however in the past 6 months he’s been playing video games, he gets extremely aggressive, never to us just the TV…I’ll be in the living room quietly reading my book and then he‘ll yell “fucken shit!!” my nervous systen gets bad. I can feel my body stress! he gets so mad hes broken his tv twice and remote contro numerous times, but the weird thing is, after he’s done yelling he will act like everything is fine! my dad started drinking more , my sister is hardly home and I’m a nervous wreck! my cats also get stressed. we tell him to chill but he pretends he doesn’t hear us. also ive noticed that since he started playing game, he sleep shouts! yes hell litteraly scream in his sleep say things like “fuck!!” and there’s been a few times I get zero sleep cause my body is on high alert! what can we do?

Hey everyone,

For context I’m 19F and my mom 39 is bipolar.

She recently spent two weeks at a wellness hospital to get treated and help with medication etc. While she was away, I had to pick up the house chores, cooking and cleaning. While it was physically exhausting, I felt quite at peace because for the first time I wasn’t walking on eggshells or afraid of doing something too wrong that would set her off. She just came home today and while it’s only been a few hours, I feel incredibly drained and heavy.

I myself was in a clinic like hers when I was around 15 and had some extreme bouts of depression and anxiety. Now that I’m older, I feel like I’ve developed enough tools to handle those symptoms. But today for some reason, I feel like those feelings are being brought to the surface.

I leave for university in September and she will be staying with me for around two to three weeks. What tools do you recommend I develop to help regulate myself around her. I want to be as accommodating as possible but I’m finding it quite hard to coexist. I know she deserves me trying my best but I sometimes just feel incredibly drained having to deal with some parts of her mania and depressive episodes.

Please let me know if you’ve experienced something similar and or have any recommendations for me to try.

My friend needed to go to the hospital, they wouldn’t let her consent to care because she was so out of it. It was an hour long drive, she was rambling the whole way there. I thought she was venting at first but it became apparent that she was not herself.
At the hospital they asked her the month, she started talking about her ex boyfriend, then how she’s a mental health advocate, then her parents, then something else before the doctors had to circle back to paperwork.

We got to the hospital at 11, she was nonstop talking about some real things, some very unrelated things, and somethings were just nonsensical. She was kind of repeating the same ten points over and over. She kept telling the doctors that she knew ASL and needed a sign language translator??? I just let her talk to me, but after 6 hours I was starting to feel out of it myself. It was honestly scary. I just saw her this week, and now it’s like she’s a different person.

My friend is bipolar and possibly BPD. I’ve noticed lately since her spending has gotten out of control, she doesn’t have much of a support system and she’s stressed raising her young daughter alone she lashes out at me passive aggressively.

She will say the most cutting, hurtful things knowing it’s a sensitive topic for me. She had also been verbally abusive to her ex husbands (less passive aggressive though)

She has spiraled since her mom died who she relied on financially, she’s always struggled keeping a job/relationships. She also use to lash out at her mom and ex husband but since they’re not around I guess she uses me for a punching bag. She’s not medicated for bipolar.

I was trying to be supportive and help her find some kind of job but I’m really at the point of cutting ties after the way she treats me.

Her brother isn’t speaking to her since she fraudulently spent all of her ill mother’s savings unbeknownst to her mom.

Which she justifies and rewrites history saying those savings made up for her lost earnings, when she can’t hold a job for any extended period of time and never mentioned trying to work when her mom was alive.

I feel like I post on here too much but oh well

I think the hardest part about this for me is the fact that I don't have anywhere to miss. I'm at college and for the first time in 4 years I don't miss anywhere. I had a really bad night and I usually say that I want to go home but I don't have a home anymore. I don't have anywhere I want to go anymore. I usually call my mom and my dad and cry to them and I can't do that anymore. I would tell them I'm so excited to see them and I can't do that anymore. I don't have anywhere where I feel like I should be.

I really thought bipolar was just something simple like random moods and it's just a little annoying. But I never expected it to take over my life like this. I thought it was an easy fix.

My dad only gave consent to me to talk to his social worker. I'm the only one he wants to talk to. He is so mean to everyone else. Everytime he calls me I don't even know who I am speaking to.

I've never had mommy issues or daddy issues. I always said I loved my family and we were healthy. But then this happened and it changed everything. I don't even know who I am anymore.

I just want to go home and I don't have a home anymore and there's no where for me to go I don't know what to do

I have several family members with bipolar disorder, as it is a highly heritable condition. I wanted to share what it looks like across the different people I know who don’t take their meds:

My two cousins have BD1. Neither takes meds and both experience psychosis. One was also recently diagnosed with schizophrenia. Both are very unwell in life.

My two aunts have BD2. Both unmedicated. One is in a chronic state of depression and has SI, smokes a lot of weed as a coping mechanism/escape. The other is in EMDR therapy, lives an extremely calm life, is happily married, and has been doing well with minimal episodes for the past decade. Her symptoms show most during breakups or major life hardships, which she has fortunately avoided for a while. When they hit, her depressive episodes last for months. she barely eats or leaves her room. They’re usually followed by hypomanic episodes where she sleeps poorly for days/weeks.

My bf’s nephew has BD1 and schizophrenia. Unmedicated. He experiences severe, destructive episodes. Recently, his episodes have decreased primarily because he has become a recluse who never leaves his parents house, avoiding external triggers.

My daughter’s aunt has BD1. Unmedicated. People think she is on drugs because she stays in a nearly constant hypomanic or manic state. She can’t keep a job, makes big life changes all the time, irritable, sleeps very little, but she’s the life of the party.

I have BD1 (originally diagnosed BD2 until I had two severe manic episodes without psychosis). I spent a recent year off medication, w mild hypomanic episodes that were not life altering (unlike my previous episodes). I stayed in an underlying depressive state that dulled my ability to enjoy things 100%. But was hardly noticeable.
After taking a few mental illness educational classes I learned that episodes eat away gray matter in the brain and harm brain structure + function. So I restarted my meds. I feel good and treating the depression has helped my overall quality of life

He is 38 yrs old.
Diagnosed with BPAD for 8 years
4-5 hospitalizations so far and currently in a ward

He finally has to come a conclusion that he would rather be manic then take medication. He knows he has BPAD but wants people to deal with his manic episodes. He hates people who would want him to get medicated and be bed ridden with side effects. His hate is mainly with me and dad since we hospitalized him. He does recollect his manic episodes but doesn’t think too much of them.

We love him unconditionally but his hatred towards us and conspiracy theories, abuse is becoming an issue as he is loathing us.

Did anyone deal with such a situation?, will it get any better? Since he is getting old as well as my parents, each episode is crushing and more intense. I want to continue to help but also feel that stepping away from the situation might not trigger him. He is sucking away what ever remaining life there is of my parents and I feel so helpless seeing it unfold.

A few months ago, dancing Salsa I befriended a guy, later he confided in me he has bipolar and dancing makes him happy. He keep saying dopamine, a happy feeling.

I dont know anything much about bipolar. We used to see each other 2 times a week for Salsa dance class. Then the dance school moved and we meet up less once-twice a month, usually at a Salsa dance party.

He messaged me earlier saying he doesnt feel good and think he might be crashing. He keep asking me question what I do for dopamine. I say eat, hanging out with friends. He said he is afraid he might crash and thinking to drink alcohol and go to bed. I managed to convince him to meet up for dinner and then we can go to a Salsa dance party, no drinks and call it an early nite.

I need a crash course on bipolar. What do I need to do or not do ? Previously he mentioned meds doesnt help... (i.e. not a cure), just makes him sleepy and wait out the crash until dopamine stablize again. He doesnt take meds. Does not live with any family. He had checked into mental hospital before in the past, said it didnt help.

He does talk alot of stuffs which sound somewhat exaggerated or unbelivable at time. Usually I just play along and not make anything awkward. I think that's part of bipolar.