I have 2 siblings (both of them married) and all of them know about my bipolar. My sister is by far the biggest advocate to my illness. She is assertive and strong willed, often coming to my pdoc appts and calling my pdoc without my knowledge when I was too unwell to care and speak for myself. She doesn't put up with crap and she is a mediator in my family when I need to go to the hospital and the rest of my family initially feels put out.