Bipolar Disorder?

[Oily]

A friend's mother has bipolar disorder, also known as manic depression, and she's worried she might get it someday. I mean, if we notice anything, we'll take good care of her and get her to a doctor and everything, so no worries on that front. Her chance of getting it is low and she shows none of the symptoms yet, so I'm not too worried about her.

I just want to allay her fears that IF she gets it, it might mess up her life. Her mum is really screwed up, and won't take any medication for it, which means my friend is scared her life will go off the rails too.

Does anyone have or know anyone with bipolar disorder who has led a perfectly normal life? I'd love to be able to tell her for sure that she'll be fine, no matter what happens.
I mean, I can tell her not to worry etc etc but I'd like to know of anyone who has bipolar disorder and is perfectly fine, just to reassure her.

[Torey]

I don't know anything about bipolar disorder but there are a few websites that I've found that might help you. I'll post them here.

www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/bipolarmenu.cfm

www.bipolar.com/whatis/bipolar-disorder.htm

I don't know if these will help you but hopefully you can get at least some information out of them.

[ice]

Well gee, my aunt has Bipolar disorder, I inherited most of the genes from my mom's side of the family, my mom and my aunt are practically twins...I'm fine, my mom's fine...I don't know much about it but worrying will do your friend no good...

(Of course you probably shouldn't tell her that I have every other mental disorder in between ^_^

[Deleted]

I had bipolar disorder for about a year to two years. Then, I got over it through therapy. It's not a completely permanent thing. I led a semi-normal social life, but at home I was a bit of a basket case. The point is though, that I'm fine now, and she can become better to if it ever happens to her.