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Bipolar disorder affects not only the life of the person with the illness but the lives of those who care for them. Family members, partners and friends (caregivers) can be a primary source of support for a person with bipolar disorder.

Welcome to bipolarcaregivers.org!

We aim to make bipolarcaregivers.org a useful, easily accessible information website for caregivers of people with bipolar disorder. On this website you will find:

Information and suggestions for caregivers about:

  • Bipolar disorder, how it is treated and managed and helpful resources.
  • Ways to help a person with bipolar disorder who is 18 years or over.
  • Ways caregivers can take care of themselves and deal with the personal impact of bipolar disorder.

The information on bipolarcaregivers.org is based on guidelines for adult caregivers (18 years or over) developed by combining the latest research with the opinions and consensus of 143 expert caregivers, people with bipolar disorder and clinicians from different countries. This research was conducted at University of Melbourne as part of a PhD project by Lesley Berk under the supervision of Professor Anthony Jorm, Dr Claire Kelly and Dr Seetal Dodd in consultation with Professor Michael Berk. Read more about how the information on bipolarcaregivers.org was selected.

A guide for caregivers

The information and suggestions on the website are also available in PDF format (see A guide for caregivers of people with bipolar disorder).

Easy to print out information summaries on key topics

See the right hand side of this page for the information summaries.

Artwork by people with mental health problems and their family and friends

Some of the artwork on this site has been contributed by people with mental health problems or their family or friends. The artwork is displayed with their permission and is under copyright. If you would like to know more about any of this artwork or to publish it elsewhere, please contact Lesley on lberk@unimelb.edu.au, and she will forward your request to the artist.

Please note:

Not all of the information or suggestions may be relevant to you. We invite you to select what interests you and to return to visit the site to find other information in the future.

Finding what works to deal with the bipolar disorder of a loved one can be a trial and error process. Family and friends need toacknowledge and give themselves credit for what they are already doing to help the person and deal with their situation.”

Other matters

The information on bipolarcaregivers.org is NOT a replacement for medical advice or counseling. We strongly recommend that you or the person you care for discuss issues related to treatment with a clinician.

Although the text on this site is covered by copyright( including the Guide for caregivers and the summaries), you can freely reproduce it for non-profit purposes provided the source is acknowledged.

For all enquiries regarding this website please contact Lesley at lberk@unimelb.edu.au

All the best,

The bipolarcaregivers.org team