If you or your loved one suffers from bipolar disorder, you'll find yourself coming up against tons of expenses soon enough. There will, in fact, be days when you feel like you're being plowed under by bills for doctors, hospitals, therapists, prescriptions and other needs.

Bipolar can hit you with plenty of other expenses, too. During an episode, a bipolar sufferer may spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars on unnecessary purchases and rack up credit card debts that are staggering.

With all of this to contend with, the thought of investing more money in educational materials about bipolar disorder may make you hesitant. After all, you need the money for immediate needs, right?

Wrong! The reality is that if you don't spend some money now to learn as much as you can about bipolar disorder, you're simply delaying the inevitable. You'll lose much more money over the years than you will ever spend on educational books, tapes, videos or seminars.

The cost of educational materials is minimal compared to the potential for loss if you don't learn all you can about bipolar disorder. There are so many potential ways to lose with bipolar disorder if you don't understand it and how to cope with the episodes, mood swings, medication side effects and other issues.

If you don't educate yourself properly about bipolar disorder, you could:

• Lose money when the bipolar sufferer goes on spending sprees and you don't have a financial protection plan in place.
• Lose days or weeks at work coping with crisis situations if you don't understand what signs to look for that indicate an episode is on its way.
• Destroy relationships with family members and friends who don't understand bipolar and don't know how to help or interact properly with the bipolar sufferer.
• Waste time and money on useless 'cures' that are ineffective and dangerous.
• Prolong episodes because you don't know the right way to handle them properly.

If you simply stick your head in the sand and pretend that bipolar disorder isn't serious and that you don't need to learn everything you can about it, you'll end up losing a great deal - sleep, peace of mind, stability, money and lots more.

What are some ways you can invest in educating yourself about bipolar disorder?

• Books, e-books and tapes. These are excellent sources of information that you can read or listen to at your own pace and on your own time. With books you can also highlight sections that are particularly relevant to your own family's situation and pass the information along to others. This will encourage understanding and help others get to know what you're going through.   Try listening to tapes when you're commuting to work or traveling. They're also great for getting discussions going in the family if you listen to them together.
• Seminars featuring guest speakers are offered regularly across the country. Usually these guest speakers are professionals such as psychiatrists, psychologists and therapists who specialize in bipolar disorder and its treatment.   These seminars may seem a bit expensive at first glance, but consider the fact that you are getting the equivalent of a private consultation with at least two leading experts in the field with specialists who would normally charge huge fees for just one hour with you, and you'll soon see why these seminars give you a lot of information for very little money.
• Support groups and newsletters provide you with regular contact with others who deal with bipolar on a daily basis and often offer free or very inexpensive reports and e-books with great information 'from the trenches.' There's not information that's more valuable than tried and tested methods from others who have dealt with bipolar disorder in their own family and found great ways to deal with the financial and emotional ups and downs.

So the next time you think that if investing in learning about bipolar disorder is low on your list of priorities, think again. A few dollars now, or even a few hundred dollars now, could save you tens of thousands of dollars in only a few years. And more importantly, it could save the sanity or the life of a bipolar sufferer!