Expert: Libby Bonner - 11/15/2009

Question
I am seeing someone who has been diagnosed and is taking medication for bipolar.  She doesn't like the diagnosis.  She thinks it is wrong and has a fear of counselors and people in that profession.  She doesn't think we have had sex yet because we have not had intercourse.  I don't want intercourse until I know her well enough to know if intercourse is 'good' for her. The doctor prescribing meds isn't the one who diagnosed her.  He told her she didn't need counseling! I would think that anyone with a diagnosis like that should have ongoing counseling. Is there no talk therapy that is effective for bipolar people?  What am I getting into when it comes to dealing with someone who is bipolar?  I heard they can flip on you.  (Get a fear about you and think you are their enemy.)  She seems to be a different person at times when it comes to conversations like she can't remember what she said before or maybe she is just trying to win her point.  She doesn't think that she pressured me to go as far as we have sexually.  (Everything but intercourse. Having orgasms through; mutual masturbation, oral sex, and petting.  We do  sleep together when we are spending the night together.)  How serious is bipolar as far as a diagnosis?  Is it a  major or minor mental problem?

Answer
For fast, fast, fast relief, see:  www.help-guide.org.  A very blah site name, but absolutely excellent to answer your questions and, I think, link you to more answers.  Wish I had known of this site much earlier.

Fast answer to one Q:  meds are THE cornerstone of bipolar treatment.  Training in managing one's illness might be a good place to do "talk," once the right doses of the right meds were on board.  The training might come from a community mental health center; find one at samhsa.gov