In Part I of this two-part series, we examined the role that genetics likely plays in the onset of bipolar disorder and learned that genetics contributes up to 80%, with environmental factors contributing about 20% or more. (This means that if someone has bipolar disorder, the cause of it is 75-80% due to genetics. It does not mean an individual in a family with a history of bipolar has a 75-80% chance of developing it. See Part I for statistics on the inheritability of bipolar.) It appears that for most people there needs to be some environmental factors that "turn on" the genes responsible for one's vulnerability to bipolar disorder. Many of these environmental triggers may occur early in life and may include things such as:

Although doctors and research scientists seem obsessed with mapping the human genome and identifying possible genetic links to every affliction from Alzheimer's to zits, it's parents and children who tend to be most concerned about bipolar disorder and heredity. Parents often ask me how likely it is that their children will develop bipolar disorder if someone in the family has it. And one of the biggest sources of anxiety for children of parents with bipolar is whether they will eventually "get it."

In "Identifying Your Bipolar Stressors and Triggers," we encouraged you to identify the sources of stress in your life and avoid them as much as possible. But what do you do when one of your biggest sources of stress – your job – pays the bills, covers your health insurance premiums, structures your life, and contributes to your sense of self worth? Can you afford to quit? Can you afford not to quit? This is the dilemma that many people with bipolar disorder face.

People are often frightened when the doctor raises the possibility of lithium treatment – it conjures up all kinds of images from the media and Hollywood of dark, dangerous institutions and wild kinds of symptoms. Patients often look surprised when I mention it – saying, “but isn’t that for only really crazy people?” It is unfortunate that lithium has gotten such a bad rap, because it is one of our best tested, longest used (since the 1960s), and most effective interventions for bipolar disorder. Here’s a list of its many benefits:

Medications play a key role in the treatment of various symptoms related to bipolar disorder for many people who have it. So, we’ve decided to shine a spotlight on some of the most common “bipolar medications.” Every other week or so, beginning today, we’ll focus on one medication, beginning with lithium.

I recently accompanied my wife to an appointment with her therapist, Lucy. It was Cecie's first therapy appointment since being released from the hospital as the result of a serious manic episode.

In Chapter 12 of Bipolar Disorder For Dummies, we discuss mood stressors and triggers – situations, events, or certain times of the year that tend to lower your threshold for the onset of a mood episode.

When we wrote Bipolar Disorder For Dummies, we took some heat for the "irreverent humor" that is characteristic of the For Dummies® series. Some people felt that we went too far. They thought our irreverence crossed the border into the land of insensitivity. Two of our editors told us to soften it up. (In a few cases, we followed their advice.) A couple reviewers gave the book positive reviews and then qualified them by saying that our prose was likely to offend sensitive readers.

John M. Grohol, Psy.D., CEO & Publisher of PsychCentral.com, generously offered us our own space on Psych Central to blog about topics of interest to those in the bipolar community – people with bipolar disorder and their loved ones, physicians, psychiatrists, therapists, and anyone else who’s interested in learning more about bipolar disorder. Although we’ve been hosting our own Bipolar Blog for over a year now, we jumped at the opportunity to gain additional exposure, share our knowledge and insights with more people, and listen to what you have to say.