My spouse and I found out a few months back that he has bipolar disorder. He had been taking anti-depressants for the past couple of years and they always seemed make things worse for him somehow. Finally, his therapist has decided that his symptoms were more aligned with the bipolar disorder than the depression and started to treat him with lithium and other mood stabilizers.
It has never been easy to live with my spouse because of his mood swings. However, it seems that since he was diagnosed with this condition, he has become two different people in one body. Sometimes, I find myself at a loss of how to react to his behavior. I know that the best thing to do for someone who has bipolar disorder to give them a lot of love and not to take anything they do or say personal. I must say, it takes a lot of patience to do that.

Does anyone here have someone in their family who suffers from this disorder? If yes, I would love to hear from you.

I have seen 2 people with this condition and it is very sad, I see them go from extreme highs to extreme lows, it is important to get the medication right otherwise it can affect the mood drastically, it is also important that the sufferer take the tablets when they are meant to.

One of our nephews is bipolar, he was diagnosed early on and treated with some kinds of pills. He gets in trouble all the time - breaking rules, drinking & being loud with friends, etc. If you don't know about his condition, you'd think he's just a bratty teenager. However, I have never had any problems with him. When I visit, he is always nice and polite. Go figure.

I have been learning not to react to the mood swings but it is quite the feat! There are a lot of books written about it as well. I guess as the time goes by, I will be more and more comfortable with the different symptoms and changes that this disorder brings. I am just glad that it has been diagnosed as we have been told that had he continued to use anti-depressants instead of the lithium and mood stabilizers, it could possibly have led to psychosis.

My sons exgirlfriend has bipolar disorder. She is a lovely girl when she is on her meds. You can definitely tell when she goes off them. She actually becomes violent! She was taking her meds and selling them to other kids in the school, so here she was all flipping out and these other kids were all very mello.
It got so bad that she became violent with my son. She bit him in the face! After that, he realized he had to leave her.

Bit him in the face?!?! Wow... That's bad. Good thing that your son is no longer with her, she is dangerous, especially since she is so irresponsible about her meds - she knows she needs them, and yet she sells them instead of taking them. I also wonder what those other kids were thinking, buying and taking someone else's prescribed medication...