People with bipolar disorder need help and support from others. You need to recognize this and be proactive in getting them treated. However, you must also help the person take charge of their life.

It may be difficult to find bipolar supporter articles, although you can find some if you look hard enough.  Bipolar articles are plentiful on the Internet—all you have to do is go up to the Google search bar on your computer screen and type in the words bipolar disorder, and click on GO.  Then sit back and wait, and soon you will have more bipolar articles to choose from than you can imagine!

If you are a supporter to a loved one with bipolar disorder, you are undoubtedly going to run across problems that you will have to solve.  Following are 12 steps to effective problem solving if you are a supporter:

Many of us (supporters) have found it difficult to communicate with our loved ones when they aren't in an episode, much less when they are in one.  Because of the unpredictability of their responses, many of us have even given up trying to communicate with our loved ones when they are in an episode, which just leaves us frustrated and sometimes angry, among other feelings.

If your loved one has bipolar disorder, there may be times that they will feel depressed.  You may not know what the right thing to say or do is during those times, and you certainly don't want to make things worse for them.