My mother-in-law also has bipolar. It can be a real rollercoaster with her, that's for sure. It's easier to realize it's a rollercoaster when you're on the other side.

You can tell when she's depressed because she won't even get up to walk to the couch to watch t.v. She just sits on the bed all day. You can tell when she's manic because you come home to a clean house. She's very classically bipolar in that way. Her cycles are much longer than mine, that's for sure.

With me, I'm sure it's not a regular rollercoaster but probably more like the crazy chipmunk kind. (Have you ever rode one of those, where it's just one car with a really long nose, so it looks like you're about to drive off before making extremly sharp turns?) Yup, you never know when I'm going to flip a switch and turn.