YOU'RE ALL WONDERFUL! We try so very hard to make sense out of our bipolar disorder and those insane "episodic events," but it's really a waste of time. Chances are, I've lived with BP1for what it seems like forever, and I've tried so hard to "manage it," to "control it," to "negotiate with it," and now I'm just satisfied to survive it.

My full sympathies go out to both the bipolar husband and his wife - because each are VICTIMS of this illness in their own separate right. They need to work with each other in love and commitment; get counseling and information from the mental health professionals; and reach out to organizations and other support resources to get the moral and emotional support to weather this tragedy.

I was diagnosed with type 1 rapid-cycling bipolar disorder while in a state of manic-psychosis in May of 2001. Five months later, I was arrested by the FBI for some federal crimes over fifteen hundred miles away from my home in Denver. I was looking at 30 years federal prison time - but the verdict came back "not guilty by reason of insanity." Did I "know" what I was doing? Yes. Did I have any control over my actions? No. Did I know the difference between right and wrong? Absolutely not!

Don't blame the sufferer of bipolar disorder for their words or actions during their episodes.