A good thing to point out to realtives who live with us beepers is that we don't react well to high stress, so over reacting to every little emotional change is probably not helpful Actually, this is true that we can be triggered by too much pressure in a whole lot of ways, but usually it's not any one little thing that anyone does that MAKES us sad or happy. We are usually not EVENT triggered as as much as, well, for lack of a better word, state triggered. If we get too tired, sick, hungry, stressed for too long, that type of thing, it tends to make our cycles worse.

Lithium treated me well until I got into my late thirties and then I started metabolizing it too well, then i started slowing way down on it, losing motivation, having trouble talking, gaining weight, etc. I had to switch off, which was sad, because it was really a good stabilizer for me until then. Yes, it can make you depressed, i have heard people have horrible probelms with that, particularly in the begining. When I started on it, there was a preparation I was taking that was not that great for me, and I had to switch to a different preparation, so sometimes even something like that can make a difference. Things like "fillers" can change how your body handles the active ingredients, believe it or not.
Good luck! HUGGGGSSSS!