Since I suffer from unipolar depression I fear that I cannot be of much help to you. I am sorry that the situation with your pdoc is not ideal. It can be hard to find a pdoc that is able to balance pharmacological treatment with talk treatment. Where I live there are few pdocs and their case loads are so heavy that they can spend only a very brief time with patients.

I have heard from some people that bipolar is a heavier burden than unipolar depression, so my heart goes out to you. Hopefully people with experiences similar to yours will see your post and respond to it with something truly helpful to you. Sometimes it is only people going through the same or similar things who can truly understand.