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Support For You When Someone You Care About Is Bipolar Articles Ask a Bipolar Expert Online Listservs and Support Groups Books Chat Support Family Parenting Support Pages Articles Coping Tips for Siblings and Adult Children of Persons with Mental Illness NAMI  Helping a Friend or Family Member with a Mood Disorder DBSA link updated June, 2009 DBSA(Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance) Chapter and Support Group Directory Mostly American and a few Canadian Chapters. Only 7 locations for the rest of the world Helping a Loved One with Bipolar Disorder HelpGuide.org new link Meeting the Unique Concerns of Brothers and Sisters of Children with Special Needs  Defunct link replaced with new site. pdf format  Sibling Support Project Webpage Sibling Support Handouts and Materials for Workshop One Pdf Helping Children and Teens Living With Mentally Ill Parents Medscape July 2002 ( not found) Caregivers Handbook this book is mostly directed towards the caregivers of the elderly but there are many hints that would be helpful other caretaking situations.  Suggestions for Family Members Mood Disorders Society of Canada CMHA-Coping with Stress Index updated link CMHA-Coping with Stress 18 tips for Dealing with Stress and Tension updated link Losing and Regaining Your Self-Esteem  Book How You Can Survive When They're Depressed Page includes a short list of coping hints Take Care of Yourself- You are a Victim Too  #8 on the Role of the Family Index Page. Ami Quebec Site has both French and English version Could you be a stressed-out caregiver?  Coping Skills Inventory (Test) queendom Who cares for the carers Short report on study done by the Institute of Psychiatry indicating that although caregivers of a schizophrenic relative were no more likely than the general population to suffer from mental illness, they were distressed. They  recommend that caregivers should be given the support they deserve because they may be at risk themselves. Caring For the Caregiver  Psychport Mar.24, 2001 Sharma suggests caregivers need more education about mental illness and more psychological support, including counseling. Family information for helping a person who has high energy levels (mania) a few hints Healthwise Family information for helping a depressed person Healthwise Caregiver Diary pdf printable form for keeping records of phone calls made and one for recording significant behavoirs. Dead Links The COPE Assisting Younger Family Members Guide PDF 15 pages. Good booklet. Universal Therapy Poem Famous People with Bipolar Disorder  Pendulum list Parenting   The Challenge of Difficult Children large site Resources on Teen and Family Issues Focus Adolescent Services. The BALMORAL Project Child & Adolescent Behavioral Resources.  List of Parenting resources I did for another project  Preventing Parent Burn Out: Model for Teaching Effective Coping Strategies to Parents of Children with Learning Disabilities While written for parents of children with learning disabilities, this article has some good information for parents of all special needs kids.  A Silver Lining Adolescent Bipolar  A letter written to the caretaker of the adolescent Bipolar Family Support Groups Empower Family Members mentalwellness.com Mesa- Family workshops BPSO Mutual Education support and Advocacy sponsored by Nami Long Actual course materials are reprinted here Family to Family education program  Course teaches the knowledge and skills that family members need to cope more effectively. Psychiatric Illness and Family Stigma medscape Family experiences (this site) Web Pages Bipolar World Support for Individuals with Bipolar Disorder chat, listserv, email, ask the expert and message boards Living with the Dragon: One woman's page on coping with a spouse with Bipolar Disorder Beacon Of Hope A page for partners of those touched by mental illness. Includes an excellent Coping Hints Link page plus  a Help for You section.  BPSO Support for Families and Loved Ones listing of Internet and Community Support Resources For Families bipolar.about.com Online Listservs and Support Groups BPParent: On-line SUBSCRIBING and UNSUBSCRIBING  This is an extremely high volume support and information list for parents of BP kids.  BPSO Support for people involved with someone who has bipolar disorder. They also have a support listserv. They do not accept new members if list is full.   Contact bpso-owner@ipl.co.uk. The Child and Adolescent Bipolar Foundation has a listserv. Click on sign-up link. This is a new group and so far the volume has been minimal. Free but they ask for donations. DBSA Online Support Groups Although they say they have separate groups for friends/family members, I was unable to see on the page what times they were being held. Bipolar Parents Listserv for parents who have bipolar disorder and have children who also have the disorder Riders: A very low volume listserv. It is less of a support group than a place to receive information on new sites, research, articles etc. The volume of other listservs can be overwhelming and this one provides a way of keeping up without being inundated. . To subscribe to the list, send the text "subscribe riders" in the body of a message to majordomo@helpnet.org.uk Note: The email address will soon change to riders@lugdunum.net  Psych Central (Dr. John Grohol) support group resource page  Pendulum Resources Listserv Page    Ask an Expert Bipolar Disorder Questions and Answers by Dr. Jim Phelps.  Bipolarworld Paul J. Markovitz M.D., Ph. D.Bipolar Questions and Answers Bipolar Sanctuary Ivan Goldberg at Ask an Expert  Allexperts Psychiatry & Psychology--Bipolar Disorder Q&A A large list of experts available to answer questions on Bipolar Disorder There is also a newsletter but have no details on it yet. Mark Dombeck, Ph.D. mentalhelpnet answers general mental health questions   Chats Chats  not hosted by professionals MentalHealth Sanctuary Bipolar Support Chatroom Bipolar World New Site Chat Page Support for Individuals with Bipolar Disorder 4 different chat rooms There will be a regular scheduled chat on Monday evening from 7-10 p.m. E.S.T., Tuesday night from 8 - - 10 p.m. E.S.T. and Sunday and Wednesday evenings from 8 pm - 11 pm E.S.T Chats can be accessed through webpage or with an IRC client.  Bipolar.about.com has a browser based support chat.  Click here for schedule info and to enter chat . These chats are both for people with the disorder and those who have someone with the disorder in their lives. DBSA Chat  Open 24/7 but more likely to find people in there during the evenings. Bipolar Support Groups - Bipolar Disorder, Manic Depression Healthyplace BPkeepers Open discussions Every Thursday and Sunday night 9pm Eastern Time Bipolar Parents chat support groups   Professionally Hosted Chat HealthyPlace Chat Support Room 2 Wed. at 9pm ET Dr John Grohol  need to preregister Room list is on a drop down menu MentalHealth Chat   Books The Burden of Sympathy: How Families Cope with Mental Illness by David Karp (Oxford, New York):  Survival Strategies for Parenting Children with Bipolar Disorder: Innovative parenting and counseling techniques for helping children with bipolar disorder and the conditions that may occur with it” by George T. Lynn M.A., M.P.A., C.M.H.C. I'm Not Sick, I Don't Need Help Helping the Seriously Mentally Ill Accept Treatment A Practical Guide for Families and Therapists Dr. Xavier Amador site  (link is working now) Transforming the Difficult Child: The Nurtured Heart Approach Howard Glasser, M.A. Parenting Difficult Children Healthyplace transcript. Brandon and the Bipolar Bear a book for young children The Storm in my Brain   book for  children pdf format  DBSA The following two books are also listed on the psychotherapy page: Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Bipolar Disorder by Monica Basco, Ph.D. and A. John Rush, M.D. (Guilford Press, l996 Bipolar Disorder: A Family-Focused Treatment Approach by David J. Miklowitz. and Michael J. Goldstein (Guilford Publications, Inc., l997). Although this book is written for professionals, it can be used by families who are unable to find a therapist who is willing to use this approach. Not working WebMD - From Our Sponsor Lilly - Concerned About a Loved One with Bipolar Disorder It says that it will return someday all links checked and working Oct 17,2000