How to confront a loved who is likely bipolar?

Question:

My brother is bi-polar (we believe so based on what we've read & family history, etc.). At this point he is in his early 40's and facing some major stresses in his life (divorce, lost house, moving to another state, child custody issues, money issues, to name only a few). He struggles daily, and has a tough time making any decisions. We are worried for him, he has recently mentioned suicide. The problem that we have is that he has no idea that he shows typical bipolar symptoms. He has seen 2 conselors in the past to get advice, he didn't trust them, and felt they didn't know what they were talking about. So how do you approach a loved one with bipolar that is likely to either be offended, defiant or just plain in denial about the potential of him having a "disorder". Any advice would be helpful, we only want to make some suggestions, and want to guide him in the direction of a specialist. THANKS!

Answers:
I can't tell you what to do. What I can tell you is a short story. I was in the midst of a very bad, confusing depression a couple years after messing up my life. My brother sat me down and in no uncertain terms told me that I was screwing up my life, something was very wrong, and I needed to get help. He was not argumentative. He did not put a label on what was wrong. He was very clear, direct, and yep, pissed off. It got thru. I saw a doc, was put on anti-depressants, started seeing a therapist, and inevitably went obviously manic for the first time some months later. When it doesn't impair functioning completely, it's not easy to know that you have a mental illness. I now take stabilizers and life is normal again. I was 43 when the lecture occurred. I wish it was sooner.

Bipolar syndrome is just a term that psychiatrists to get people to do drugs for them.

Everyone is happy sometimes and everyone is sad sometimes. Life is meaningless. If your brother wants to kill himself, he's probably intelligent and knows that there's no meaning to life. Try to get him to commit to something, a job, a hobby, a lifestyle, or suicide. Let him decide.

If he's talking suicide..then maybe you should have him taken in for observation and maybe committed.
You wouldn't want him to get killed either by the police or his own hands..not to mention a family member or an Innocent.
Sounds like sever depression more than bipolar.

OK, I don't know if he just talked about suicide, or told you he wanted to commit suicide, but in my state there is something known as a mental inquest warrant, where you convince a judge that a loved one is a threat to himself or others and the judge issues a warrant for him to be evaluated by a psychiatrist, he could be let go after the evaluation or he could be transferred to a psychiatric hospital for further observation and treatment. The police will pick him up and take him to the hospital. Know that he will probably be very angry with you for this, so be prepared. You should only do this if he is really suicidal. Sometimes it is the only way to get a loved one treatment.

How to confront a loved who is likely bipolar?

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