Most people I've encountered who have bipolar disorder say they want to learn more about the disorder, and many of them are willing to pay to take my course in order to do just that. What most of them don't realize is there's a bounty of information available to them at no extra cost . . . they just never use it.

That source of information is your doctor and chances are you're not using him or her to their fullest abilities.

It drives me crazy when I ask people if they ever ask their doctors questions about bipolar disorder and they say "What do you mean?" With my mom, for example, I asked her how many questions she'd asked in the last five years to any doctors who were associated with bipolar. She said, "I'm not sure. Maybe a few." So then I asked her, "Did you have any questions you wanted to ask the doctor?" and she said "Yes, but I didn't want to bother him because he was really busy."

My first reaction when I hear that is that it is a huge mistake. When you go to see your doctor, you should ask a lot of questions. That's why you should always take a notebook with you to your appointments so you can write down all of your questions in advance and jot down the answers the doctor gives.

There are two major benefits of doing this:

1. You will gain knowledge over time - Even if you only have two questions a visit, you will have 24 answers in just one year and that's 24 things that you didn't know before. Eventually, you will become an expert on bipolar disorder, too.

2. You will get better treatment - When doctors aren't kept on their toes by their patients, they start to get lazy. That's why 95% of patients receive treatment in the same way a candy bar receives its wrapper: through an assembly line. By asking questions, being informed, and showing an interest in your disorder, you put yourself in that 5% category with other patients who are receiving great care.

Besides these two benefits, forcing yourself to come up with several questions before a doctor's visit will also help you realize what you still need to know about bipolar disorder so you can always be focusing on getting the information that you need.

If you're like my mom and you're worried about "bothering" the doctor, don't be. He or she is not giving up their time for free to answer your questions. They are being well-paid for their services. Even if you are only paying a $30 co-payment, your insurance is paying the rest. Even if you are going to a doctor who doesn't charge you anything or who is using a sliding scale free system, they are receiving compensation for their work. And that work includes answering any and all of their patients' questions.

Furthermore, most of the good doctors that I have talked to about bipolar disorder always seem to tell me the same thing: "I would really love it if all my patients were serious about learning about this disorder and would ask me questions." Not only is answering those questions part of their job, but it's also something good doctors want you to do.

So go buy yourself an inexpensive notebook, write down some of your questions, and take them with you to ask your doctor during the next visit.