How do I Live With a Loved One Who is Bipolar?

Bipolar disorder is a brain disorder, also known as manic-depressive illness. It causes a person to have severe mood shifts, which can make relationships with a bipolar person hard to handle. If you have a loved one who is bipolar, you need to implement strategies of properly handing the situation so you can live with them.

Instructions

• 1

  Perform extensive research on bipolar disorder. The more you understand the illness, the more you will understand what your loved one is going through. Even though being bipolar is a disorder, you need to treat it like any other disease. Different people have different levels of severity of bipolar disorder, and you need to know how severe your loved one's disorder is.

• 2

  Build a trusting relationship with your loved one. A person with bipolar disorder needs to be around people they can trust. To build trust with your loved one, you need to have open and honest communication with them. If you feel that you can't handle the situation or have no idea how to give advice to the loved one, do not express these feelings in front of them. If you need to talk to a doctor, do so when the loved one is not around. Do not take advantage of the trust or lie.

• 3

  Communicate with your loved one. Tell the loved one that you understand the illness and the adverse effects it can cause. After acknowledging the loved ones symptoms, offer help in any way that they you can. Concentrate on listening to your loved one, and concentrate less on giving out solutions. Tell them when you're frustrated with certain behaviors, but make sure you do so calmly. Expressing your feelings to the loved one is part of gaining trust through communication. Getting angry or yelling only makes the situation worse.

• 4

  Never threaten your loved one with hospitalization or blame them for your problems. This will ruin any trust you've built, and it will damage your relationship. It may seem at times that the loved one is insulting, rude, and verbally abusive, but it's important remember during these times that they are suffering from an illness that controls the way they feel.

• 5

  Seek help from a counselor who specializes in bipolar disorders. They can help give you strategies on how to deal with an individual who has bipolar disorder.