I won't say this is true or not true because I don't know, but I have read this before. Taking medication is something you have to make up your own mind about but do the research first. There is one theory called kindling that states that the more often you have episodes, the fewer triggers are needed to set the episodes off. They can begin to go off on their own with out any triggers. Its still a theory though as far as I know. I don't know about the meds not working though, I haven't read that. Only in cases where people take medications then go off them a lot then go on them again repeatedly, I've read that they can lose their effectiveness.

I don't know if you have the time, but if you go to barnes and nobles and look in their psychology book dept, there are quite a few books on bipolar, you could look up in different books just the parts about the medications that you are concerned about. I've read every book in the store and bought most of them.

Can I ask what risks you are concerned about? I think the DBT group will be a definite plus and I am SOOO glad you are getting some help. (((BIGHUGS))) You are in my thoughts!