Family Support Groups

The following websites might help patients cope with family members who have mental illness:

P The Crooked House

P National Family Caregivers Association

P American Foundation for Suicide Prevention

P Family Connections: Coordinated by the National Education Alliance for Borderline Personality Disorder

P Families for Depression Awareness

P Families Together

P Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance

P Mental Health America

P The Children’s Society’s Include Project

P The National Alliance on Mental Illness Family-to-Family Education Program

P Support and Education Program for Families

P Network of Care

P Children and Adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

P Active Minds

P Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Resources for Military Families

P Compeer

P National PLAN (Planned Lifetime Assistance Network) Alliance

For full article entitled Family Support Groups: An Integral Part of Patient Care, visit the Families in Psychiatry Section of Clinical Psychiatry News.

Be prepared!

Getting sick is bad, but getting sick and not having a safety plan can be even worse! Take a moment to build a plan with your loved ones that indicates what to do should you get sick and make sure everyone has a copy of the plan!

Here are some ideas for what to include in your plan:

1. List the names and contact information for all your doctors, case workers, or any other professional involved in your care
2. Make a list of all your medications you take and the reason you take each medication! Be sure to include any over-the-counter medications or supplements you take, as well as the doses of each medication and when you take them. You may want to note some possible side effects of the medications. This way you and your support network can be mindful of any side effects you could experience.
3. Write out any allergies that you have! Note any adverse reactions to medications or medications that you do not want to take and why!
4. Write down a list of people you trust who know about your disease and are willing to help you. Be sure to include their names and phone numbers! This can help you when you aren't feeling well. You may want to include a list of signs that you experience when you are starting to feel manic or depressive. Knowing these early signs that you might be getting sick can allow people to help you get care early.
5. Write down the names and numbers of any family members or employers that may need to be contacted if you experience an emergency or need to stay in the hospital for a period of time for treatment.
6. Write out your insurance plan information
7. Include in your safety plan any other directions that you have for your care. Be sure to include what kinds of medical interventions you do and do not want. You can include any "Advanced Directive" or "Living Will" documents with the plan!
8. Finally, you may want to indicate any instructions regarding the care of any pets or plants you have or regarding bills or other household matters should you need to be in the hospital.

Maybe some items above aren't for you. That's okay. This list is just to get you started on putting your plan together. You don't have to build your plan alone either. Talk with your doctor, your case manager, your family, or the other people you trust to help you build a plan that works for you. Make sure your doctor and the people on your support list have a copy of the plan so they can know how to best help you!

Support Networks

Dear Reader,

While all of us need them, for patients with bipolar disorder, support networks can be an essential part of the maintenance of this illness. People with bipolar disorder, when either in manic or depressed states, can often lose touch with reality and lack insight into how they are functioning. An aware and reactive support network can be essential during these times.

Who’s in a support network?

Support networks can be as big or as small as one chooses. Often they can include parents, siblings, close friends and even co-workers. Whomever is in your support network, these are people that you feel comfortable sharing the various facets of your illness with. These are people that often have known you for years and can offer acceptance and support if you become ill. Often patients will tell me who the key people in their support networks are. They will also give these people permission to notify me, as their doctor, if they notice any of the more dangerous symptoms of bipolar disorder appearing, such as risky or dangerous impulsive behavior or intense thoughts of self harm in the patient. Oftentimes, when these symptoms start to appear, the person living with bipolar disorder may not be as attune to them as a friend or family member who is able to see symptoms from a more objective perspective.

How to build a support network?

It’s important for people who are diagnosed with bipolar disorder to engage the family members and friends whom they trust from the beginning of a diagnosis. These are the people who love and care about you. These should be people who are there for you in both your joyous moments, and times of illness or despair.

In what ways can people in support networks be helpful?

When a person with bipolar disorder becomes sick, it sometimes may be difficult to listen to advice from multiple new sources. Sometimes these new sources may be doctors, whom the person suffering may or may not know very well. Friends and family in your support network can often act as a liaison between you and your doctors. The people who know you well are often the first to notice when your mood is not as it normally is and are often able to share these thoughts with you. When this information is coming from trusted sources, it is often easier to understand and interpret at a time where in may be difficult to process what is happening to you. Often the people in your support network can help you make the initial steps to contact your healthcare provider when symptoms arise, and this may allow you to treat symptoms before they escalate and in some cases may require more intensive treatments. Anything that can be done to lessen the amount of manic or depressive episodes, will be of benefit to the person suffering from bipolar disorder in the years after a diagnosis is made.