If you have a husband or wife with bipolar disorder, you may wonder if your bipolar marriage can survive. There is hope for bipolar marriages. So the answer is yes, bipolar marriages can be saved and do quite well with hard work.
Bipolar statistics show that bipolar marriages have a 90 percent failure rate, meaning only 10 percent of bipolar marriages survive. This accounts for those bipolar marriages that are recorded in studies. There are thousands of other marriages where one or both parties may have bipolar disorder, but never had a bipolar diagnosis.
The dim statistics shouldn’t stop you from trying to fight for your bipolar marriage.
Here are some things you can do to help save a bipolar marriage.
1. Seek marriage counseling to help a bipolar disorder. If you are bipolar or if your husband or wife is bipolar, you can seek marriage counseling to sort through some of the issues you two may be experiencing. This will give you a chance to hear from a trained therapist who knows about bipolar disorder and its effect on marriages. Marriage counseling also gives you an outside view into your marriage.
2. Take vacations to help your bipolar marriage survive. One way to help save a bipolar marriage is to take time away from the day to day tasks of everyday life, including the stress of a bipolar marriage. Take trips away together and also mini trips away from each other.
If you travel without your husband or wife, go on a short trip away with another family member or friend. This will give you some time to decompress and miss your spouse. Don’t leave on a solo trip in anger though. Take a solo trip with the thought process of getting some rest and relaxation to rejuvenate yourself to return back to your spouse.
3. Forgive each other to help a bipolar marriage. Another way to help a bipolar marriage survive is to forgive one another quickly. When your bipolar spouse does something wrong, forgive him or her. Forgive the bipolar husband or wife regardless if they’ve asked for forgiveness or not. The bipolar husband or wife will remember that they have your unconditional love and that will help them to try focused on their treatments and therapy. If you are bipolar and your spouse does something wrong toward you, forgive them as well. Keeping a positive attitude and clear mind is good for your health.
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Studies have shown that married people are overall healthier than unmarried people. Improved mental health is one of those benefits. Even for those with bipolar disorder.
Here are three ways marriage can help improve mental health for those with bipolar disorder.
Marriage leads to healthier behaviors. If you have a supportive spouse, he or she can encourage you to take better care of yourself mentally and physically. Married people tend to drink and smoke less than single people. By reducing these potentially harmful behaviors, you can increase your mental wellness and stabilize your bipolar disorder moods.
When you’re feeling down, a spouse can cheer you up and motivate you to get counseling and/or psychiatric help if you’re experiencing depression or bipolar mood swings. Married people have an increased chance of having and sustaining access to health care insurance, which would include mental health care including treatment for bipolar disorder.
Marriage provides a sense of purpose. Marriage doesn’t define a person, but it can help provide you with a sense of purpose. Having someone to build a common life goal with and to support you in your personal dreams can help you feel good and increase your self esteem. A healthy marriage also fosters social connection, provides emotional stability and an increased quality of life.
Marriage lowers the risk of suicide. Studies have shown that married people have a decreased risk of suicide. People that are single, separated, widowed and divorced are three times more likely to commit suicide. One reason is because marriage buffers depression. A loving, secure relationship goes a long way in boosting your mood. Having someone there for you to laugh with, cry with and share in your struggles helps provide some comfort and shelter from the struggles of everyday life.
Keep in mind that marriage is not the be all and end all solution to one’s mental issues or bipolar mood swings. It can, however, contribute greatly to improving your overall mental wellbeing.
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Growing up with a bipolar parent can be very difficult and hard. If you have a bipolar mother or father, there are a number of things you may have experienced growing up in your household. For many, this firsthand experience is their introduction to bipolar disorder and its potentially dire effects on the family structure.
One of these experiences with a bipolar parent includes witnessing his or her mood swings. As a child or young adult you may have not understood why your mother or father behaves the way they do. It is not uncommon to search for all the information on bipolar disorder to get a better grasp on what’s happening with you loved one. With more books on manic depression and the advent of the Internet and its wealth of information, you can now find out all you need to know to better understand your bipolar parent.
A bipolar parent may act out taking some of their depressed or manic behavior out on their spouse, you or your siblings. These moods are not to be taken personally. It is also best to not purposefully provoke a bipolar parent. A stable home life is key for a mother or father with bipolar disorder. 
Some children of bipolar parents harbor some resentment toward the ill parent if they don’t take responsibility and take care of their mental health. Consider talking with a therapist if you feel as though you have some resentment toward the way your parent acts. Hopefully they are doing the best they can to remain stable in their moods. If not, have love and compassion for your parent and realize that they do have a mental illness they didn’t ask for.
One of the key concerns of children of a bipolar parent is if they will develop the disorder. And this is a possibility since bipolar disorder is thought to be largely genetic. Don’t live in fear of the disease though. If your bipolar mother or father takes care of themselves, follow their example if you do indeed also have bipolar disorder. If your bipolar parent doesn’t take care of themselves, vow that you’ll do a better job of taking care of yourself.
Future articles on the Bipolar Advice Guide will break down the various aspects that may arise in a household with a bipolar parent as well as how to cope and show support to your mother or father.
Here is a book suited for children with a bipolar parent:
The Bipolar Bear Family: When a Parent Has Bipolar Disorder
Continue reading about Growing Up with a Bipolar Parent: An Introduction to Bipolar Disorder
When A Partner Has Bipolar Disorder
Being involved in a bipolar marriage can be one of the toughest challenges for a loving relationship. With the bipolar spouse experiencing mood swings and the bipolar disorder symptoms of mania or depression at any given time, it can present a tough challenge for both the husband and wife in the relationship.
With some tough work and the proper treatment surviving a bipolar marriage can be done while decreasing problems.
According to bipolar marriage statistics, 90 percent of bipolar marriages end in divorce giving bipolar marriages a 10 percent chance of survival. This statistic does not take into account that some marriages may end with the bipolar spouse committing suicide. This percentage may grim, but if you are married to a spouse with bipolar disorder or have the illness yourself vow to be part of the 10 percent of bipolar marriages that do survive.
The reason bipolar marriages have extra problems and great risk of divorce is because the bipolar spouse may experience bouts of depression as well as mania with or without bipolar disorder treatment. These mood swings may have nothing to do with their partner or their marriage, yet the partner may feel the impact causing strain on the relationship.
A spouse’s bipolar disorder symptoms vary and the impact it will have on the marriage also vary depending on a number of factors. These factors are how well the bipolar spouse manages his or her illness, if he or she seeks treatment as well as how understanding the well spouse is regarding their bipolar wife or husband and their bipolar disorder. The well spouse can also be a trigger for the spouse with bipolar disorder as well because of their close relationship.
Some of the bipolar marriage problems can occur when the bipolar husband or wife takes out their depression, irritability or anger out on their spouse. At times a bipolar spouse can make poor decisions leading to marital problems and arguments. The well spouse may take on responsibility for their husband or wife making sure they receive treatment– a role he or she may not want to take on.
There can also be positive, happy times within a bipolar marriage. The whole marriage will not be doom and gloom because of this mental illness. Appreciate the good times and get marital counseling together if needed to weather the bad times.
Here are some great resources for those with bipolar disorder and their spouses:
The Bipolar Disorder Survival Guide: What You and Your Family Need to Know
Break the Bipolar Cycle: A Day-by-Day Guide to Living with Bipolar Disorder
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If you have a friend or loved one that suffers from depression, be it depression alone or the depression side of bipolar disorder, there are a few things you should never say to them. You may have found yourself saying certain things to a depressed person in an effort to be helpful. If you’ve noticed yourself saying things from this list to your depressed loved one, vow to never say them again.
Here is the list of things you shouldn’t say to someone with depression:
1. “Get over it.” or “Snap out of it.” If someone is depressed, especially with clinical depression, they can’t just get over it. With clinical depression, there may be no external reason a person feels down. So telling them to get over it would be futile and just frustrate and sadden them more.
2. “It is all in your mind.” Someone suffering from depression knows it. They do not need you to tell them that their issue is in their mind. If they could control not feeling depressed, they would. While there are ways they can learn to cope with their depression, telling them it’s all in their mind most likely won’t help.
3. “Life isn’t fair.” While life indeed isn’t fair, saying that to someone with depression will not help them feel better. They are focused on how they feel, not the overall broad notion that life isn’t fair.
4. “You’re selfish.” One way to kill any supportive measure you’ve taken so far is to tell a depressed person that they are selfish. Some of their actions in the midst of depression may appear selfish, such as neglecting obligations to others, but they are dealing with a mental illness. They may be just as immobilized as someone that has to focus on healing from a physical ailment. Show your support and cut them some slack.
5. “It’s your fault you’re depressed.” Laying guilt on a person for the way they feel is not a solution to depression. The person did not ask for depression and they may not yet know how to cope with it. Telling someone that it is their fault will only compound any sense guilt they may have over the way they feel. Instead offer to help your depressed friend or loved one find help in working through their illness.
If you’re looking for a resource to help a depressed or bipolar loved one, check out this highly rated book The Mindful Way through Depression: Freeing Yourself from Chronic Unhappiness
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