In Bipolar Disorder For Dummies, we devote an entire chapter to the topic of building a winning mood-management team. For many with bipolar disorder, the team consists of a doctor (who manages the medications), one or more therapists, and family members. Teams can also include friends, mentors, people you happen to meet through a support group, and others. If you’ve managed to assemble an effective mood management team, please share your experiences and insights. Who’s on your team? What role does each person play? What sort of assistance do you find most helpful?

I’m just getting around to reading the winter edition of bp Magazine. At first glance, the cover story struck me as odd: “Asking Forgiveness and Making Amends.” Hmmm, I wonder whether people diagnosed with diabetes or heart disease are expected to apologize for what their illness has done to them and how it has strained their relationships?

Purple Tablets Asks…

I’m a female of child-bearing age… who has been diagnosed as Bipolar II. The message that the different doctors have given me so far has been “don’t get pregnant.” (In fact, one offended me so much with how she delivered this message that I cancelled my follow-up appointment and got a new psychiatrist!)

You may be able to short-circuit a developing mood episode through early intervention, but to do so, you must first be able to identify the early warning signs. In this post, I point out some common early warning signs of an oncoming bipolar mood episode (depression, mania, or mixed) and ask you to share your early warning signs.

kjenny kelton asks…

I have recently entered into a relationship with a man with this illness and know nothing about it. I want to be there for him, but he just says he needs to be on his own. How do I help him?

In Part I of this series, I highlighted the challenge of returning to work with bipolar disorder and provided some practical advice on how to smooth the transition back to work after experiencing a major mood episode. In this second part of the series, I provide some more in-depth information and recommendations on obtaining additional assistance with your back-to-work efforts:

With this post, we continue our biweekly series on medications used to treat bipolar disorder and related symptoms. We have already covered lithium, along with anti-seizure and atypical antipsychotics commonly used as anti-manic medications or mood stabilizers in bipolar disorder. We introduced our coverage of SSRI (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor) antidepressants with a post on Prozac (fluoxetine). This week, we continue our series on SSRI antidepressants with this post on Lexapro (escitalopram).