Bipolar is a mood disorder that affects your emotions, thoughts, and energy levels with periods of depression and mania or hypomania. No matter what type of this disorder you have, the symptoms you experience can challenge your romantic relationships, but learning how to navigate them in respect to your mental health can help relationships flourish. Below is a guide on how the disorder can impact your relationships and what you can do to manage it.

How Bipolar Disorder Affects Relationships

Bipolar disorder affects every aspect of your life. When an episode happens, your personality, work ethic, mindset, ability to carry out needed and daily tasks, how you interact with others, and how you behave in the relationship can change drastically. This can leave your partner in unfamiliar territory, unsure of what to do to help you or how to handle these changes, causing them to potentially become frustrated or feel isolated from you.

The symptoms can also cause serious problems that directly affect your partner, such as inability to keep a job, reckless spending, risky behaviors, alienation of friends, substance abuse, and other mental health disorders like eating disorders or anxiety. All of this can cause stress, arguments, worry, and feelings of resentment or distrust between the two of you.

What You Can Do to Have Healthier Relationships

The primary way to manage bipolar symptoms is to seek treatment if you haven’t already. Medications, therapy, and other medical approaches may be recommended by a professional to get your symptoms under control. You should also talk with your partner about the disorder, opening up about how it makes you feel and why you act differently sometimes. The more they know about the disorder, how it affects you, what causes it, and what they can do, the more empowered they’ll feel to help and be able to understand what’s going on. 

You should also have a plan they can follow if you begin experiencing an episode, such as making sure you aren’t alone and alerting your therapist or psychiatrist. Allow them to help you monitor your moods and behaviors to look for the signs that another episode is occurring, so the appropriate steps can be taken. You may also want to suggest couple’s therapy, too, as a professional can help you both navigate the challenges bipolar disorder can present.

If bipolar disorder is affecting your relationship, the professionals at Lincoln Psychiatric Group will help. Serving Lancaster County, NE, since 1939, their compassionate and skilled team will assist with diagnosing, treating, and managing conditions like mood disorders and anxiety. They offer medication management and counseling for individuals and couples. You can learn more about their approach online, and call (402) 476-7557 to schedule an appointment.