I wasn't a teenager when I was diagnosed and boy was I mad. Even though I knew it was the right diagnosis I was mad about it. I was mad I had to take medications for the rest of my life. I was mad that I gained weight. I felt like a totally different person and I really didn't like this new person. I can only imagine how much worse it must be to be a teenager going through this.

It is really hard to understand how bipolar disorder feels without being bipolar. I'm glad you're here trying to help her, its probably one of the best ways to understand the disorder. Read other people's posts. What finally made it somewhat click with my dad was going to support group with me and listening to everyone in the room describing what it feels like to go through what he saw me going through. The best explanation I ever heard to explain bipolar disorder to people without the disorder is: Imagine the cartoon roadrunner that's running along on top of a cliff and looks down and realizes the ground is gone and begins to fall...and then the coyote drops an anvil on the roadrunner. That's what it's like to have bipolar disorder.