If this is the friend you've been here asking advice about before...or even not. I think you're a very caring individual who has really tried to understand bipolar disorder and the people who have it so you can be a better friend. I think that's a wonderful thing.

I also think it's ok to express your feelings to people especially if you don't have expectations for how they should act. For example, I have a guy friend who is in love with me. I've told him it's ok to tell me as long as he doesn't expect me to say "I love you" back. He decided he could live with that if it meant he could express his feelings...but that's something we worked out and is really neither here nor there.

So I guess what I'm saying is just don't try to force a particular reaction out of them.