Relationships & Bipolar
- May 14
- 3 min read
Talk given by Julie A. Fast, renowned mental health expert, on managing bipolar and relationships.
May Meeting: Relationships & Bipolar
In our recent all ages meeting, we were honored to hear from Julie A. Fast on the topic of bipolar and relationships.
Julie is an internationally recognised expert in brain health and mental health, with a special focus on bipolar disorder, psychosis, depression, anxiety, and schizoaffective disorder. As the bestselling author of several well-known books on bipolar disorder, Julie has spent more than two decades helping individuals, families, and healthcare professionals better understand mental health conditions and build practical, long-term strategies for stability and wellbeing.
Julie used a series of storytelling from her wide range of experience with clients as well as her own lived experience to try and teach others how to recognise symptoms early on and to manage them ahead of dealing with a relationship issue. She recently shared with us her recap of the meeting, reflecting on the main themes and takeaways:
It was such a pleasure to once again speak to your group in Scotland this week. All the way from Alabama in the United States! What was supposed to be a 45 minute talk turned into a much longer discussion because the questions were so thoughtful and honest. I loved the interaction and felt like I was with people who understood my life as well.
We talked about one of my favorite subjects: How bipolar disorder affects relationships. Not just romantic relationships, but friendships, work relationships and family relationships.
My main message is clear… Treat bipolar first.
So many of the relationship struggles people experience are actually from untreated or unmanaged symptoms. When we focus on recognizing our own symptoms and taking care of them first, we can then see if the struggles we have with relationships are real struggles that do need to be discussed or actually just bipolar symptoms that are affecting our relationships negatively.
People asked incredible questions about:
Losing self awareness during mania.
How to teach partners early warning signs.
Whether to disclose bipolar disorder at work.
Hypersexuality and relationships.
Alcohol and substance use.
How to apologize after psychosis.
Managing paranoia in the workplace.
What happens when mania destroys trust.
How to know what is bipolar and what is personality.
How to help a partner who refuses to recognize mania.
Why relationships feel stable one week and impossible the next.
(I have attached articles that address these topics more in detail at the end of this message.)
Another big theme during the meeting was taking responsibly for our own bipolar symptoms.The goal is to learn how to recognize symptoms early enough that bipolar does not take over our relationships.
I shared openly about my own experiences with mania, psychosis, paranoia, work instability, impulsive relationships, drinking before diagnosis and the long process of learning how to stop taking symptoms out on other people. I also shared that I simply decided one day that I would never again take out my bipolar or psychotic disorder symptoms out on the people in my life. Oh yes! This can be SO hard, but it’s possible.
I loved working with this group. The honesty, intelligence and insight in the room was uplifting on a night I needed to be uplifted. Thank you!
Julie
Books:
Julie is the author of several acclaimed books on bipolar and mental health that are well known for their practical guidance on managing bipolar and supporting loved ones:
Take Charge of Bipolar Disorder
Loving Someone with Bipolar Disorder
Getting it Done When You're Depressed
Recommended Articles:
We highly recommend following Julie on Instagram or subscribe to her YouTube channel to gain more insights from her research and experience.
