I was diagnosed about 4 yrs. ago with bipolar I. I was also in a mixed state with delusions...mostly about my husband. I was very paranoid about him hating me & wanting me to commit suicide. When I got on the meds, I came out of that way of thinking & was amazed at how good I felt. I've never felt like that before. I was misdiagnosed with unipolar depression for over 30 yrs.! My mother was bipolar so that should have been a clue! But I was going to my family doc, not a psychiatrist all those yrs.

Anyway, my husband felt like he was walking on eggshells around me. I had an explosive temper & could go on crying jags where I wanted to kill myself. I went to an outpatient program at the hospital & they had a family educ. class where he learned that those behaviors of mine were part of the illness. He heard other husbands describe similar experiences with their wives. It helped him trememdously to understand the illness. He stopped blaming me for my rash behaviors. We have been married for 32 yrs.

You can also have him come in with you to see your doc & have the doc answer questions for him. Two groups that have very good support both for the "consumer" (patient) & family are the National Alliance of the Mentally Ill (NAMI) & Depression & Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA). Look them up on-line & they will list contacts in your area.

I actually teach a class through NAMI that is free called Peer-to-Peer where you can learn a lot about your mental illness. They also have a class for family members called Family-to-Family. This is free as well. Your husband can learn about your disorder. Plus both of these groups have support groups for both family members & consumers that meet once a month.

Hang in there. It will probably take awhile to get the right combo of meds for you (it took one long year for me, but I have been stable for 4 yrs. now). Hope this has been helpful.