10 Supportive Things You Can Say to Someone With Bipolar

Suggestions from a person living with bipolar

It’s not easy to know what to say to someone you care about when they share with you that they have bipolar, especially if you’re not familiar with it.

These are some tips and suggestions to keep in your pocket from someone who lives with this mood disorder.

What does bipolar look like?

Media portrays people with bipolar as violent and “crazy” so it can be shocking and disorienting when someone shares with you that they have bipolar. They likely don’t fit the stereotype. You might think, they don’t look bipolar? They don’t seem bipolar? They seem totally fine?

It makes sense that your brain might go there. Bipolar is a highly stigmatized mental illness and incredibly misunderstood, so the first thing you can do to support that person is to be curious about it.

First, do not say that they don’t look or seem bipolar. That is incredibly invalidating, and it indicates that you know nothing about it. Let them share with you what bipolar is. They know what it is. You do not.

It’s like sharing that you have cancer or diabetes with someone and their response is, “but you don’t look like you have cancer? You…