I can relate too.
I have no friends just my parents and i'm living with them to take care of them there in there 80s and 90s.
But what i did to make things a little better is I'm a foster mom for a animal rescue.

Well, one thing is certain- isolation is a very common characteristic of being bipolar. I can relate to all that has been said-I have no close girlfriends, do not have custody of my 2 children, am on my 4th marriage - I am really working on my ability to have healthy relationships with others-my family foremost-which has shown some improvement over the past year.... I guess this is why I'm so glad that I found this website, because I don't have people to talk to that have a clue as to the things that go on in my head-I feel like an alient most of the time. My husband is very old fashioned & doesn't believe in spending money on meds-so I'm on the minimal medication possible......therefore-I'm trying to live through my symptoms.....which hasn't been easy.

To all of you out there: Let's just all stick together & lean on each other!! Anything I can do to help any of you, please let me know ;)

I know this going to sound a bit strange ( with BP what isn't strange) but the only real friend I have is my ex-wife. She currently married to a gent who has PSTD so she can relate to my situation from past experience and current experience. As for my family ( you know the ones you usually can count on) Brother is abusive towards me, sister in law don't talk to me and sister appears to only care if there is a crisis. I am learning to love myself again out of necessity. I am 23 months away from a major manic melt down (up?). Learning to live with mood swings and anger.

Just curious to know Happy2stillbhere, how do you know that your gonna have major low or high in exactly 23 months?

After years and years of suffering with the disorder, you work out your patterns. Last night was my 3 yearly breakdown. It seems to have its cycle.

No I Had a major manic episode 23 month ago ( got arrested, hospitalized the who thing). After that it there was a period of depression/hypomania/mixed. I am just now in the past month or so what I call stabilized (what ever that is after a major blow out)

I don't even know my cycle. I have been rapid cycling for months and months. Sometimes I have irrational behaviour and act out or do things that I know are wrong but I feel I have to do them anyways. I wish sometimes I knew my cycle so I could prepare ppl around me. How is one to prepare themselves for it. I believe it's been when I was 23 when I started noticing the symptoms. I have delt with the depression since 17/18. I have been told I am bi polar one, because I have had manic episodes. I generally am depressed most of the time.

It seems like some ppl on here are able to have "normal lives" I wonder when that day will ever come for me. I have to wait till my hubby is on beniefts with his new job b4 I can get on the write meds. I don't even feel like hold down a job or commit to anything until then. It fuckin sucks!

There will come a time in your life, when you know "who" your friends really are??? For me it's always always my family......Hard to admit very true, family forgivess without judging and never expects explanations....just the truth. Keep your enemois closer!!!!!

yes, it does seem to go in cycles for me. i always get a ""feeling" when i'm on a downward slide, i know it's coming.

as for feeling isolated, it's very true. people in this town treat me as if it was contagious. when ever i meet a new friend, as soon as they find out they vanish. even peopel who have similar prob;ems in their own family. even the people in my church were like that. people acted as if i was out to steal their husbands.

the only friends i have, and i do mean only, are my friends online on the internet. and some of them have become wonderful friends, better than any friendship i've had before

and my mother is incredible. she actually spends hours looking at stuff online so she can understand my problems better.

Failed relationships amongst people with Bipolar occurs for multiple reason, almost all of which are rectifiable, so there IS HOPE. Those reasons can be summed up as such: 1) Ignorance, 2) Alienation, 3) Withdrawal 4) Personality Disorder. For a better understanding and/or to explore how to rectify them, please see my Journal entry titled, "Bipolar and Lonely."

I can relate to everyones comments.. I only have maybe 2 friends and my family. It feels really lonely sometimes living with bipolar.

I truely feel your pain, I have shut out my entire family and don't have friends. I used to but I can't fight the feeling that they are judging me. When I have trusted people with the truth about myself and how my mind works they sort of dissapear from my life. I used to work but have found that the paranoid me just makes it impossible for me , I feel like everyone is out to get me. They just thought I was crazy with the mood swings and would actually use some triggers they found to get me to do dangerous jobs that no one wanted to do. I worked in a large steel mill for 8 years until one day I found myself looking over a hand rail and trying to figure out how many times I would bounce or if the fall would finally end all the drama. I had to leave and right then. I never went back.

Being a father did help for a while until I figured out that I was teaching my girls to fear everything just like me. They say you can't teach a person how to be bipolar I refuse to believe it because my girls seem to act just like me . I would take them to talk to some one but I am afraid they will be labeled just like me. I was diagnosed as bipolar when I was 14 and my parents just wouldn't believe that so of course no help. Now I can't even help myself. I read what people in here write and hate to say it but am happy at times just to know I'm not alone. Then I feel even worse because I realize that other good folks are having to live just like me.

Having any kind of mental illness I think produces isolation as part of the altered reality that exist during and after a period of symptoms or crisis. The difference is that BPD in many cases can seem so real to the individual and others. It is not until a major crisis (arrest, discovery of out of control behavior) that people begin to question your behavior as abnormal and then begin to assess their own feelings and their relationship with you. Someone mentioned the ideal of personality disorder as being a fact for alienation. First I think everyone as a touch of personality dysfunction but I feel those with true mental disorders such as BPD are less prone to the extremes of personality when we are stable. Why? Well because we know how it is to live in the extremes and who dangerous it is to do so. Yes BPD has changed my personality but I like to believe it has to the better and not the extremes.

Some friends I distant myself from. others drifted away.
at this time I have no friends.
I'm trying to somewhat become friend w a person that I sorta of
know. she works at store. I do my grocery shoppinng where she works.
Between my illness and meds & personality, I'm not best friend.
I never was a person who needed clingy friends.
When my sone lived at home I was friends with my best formor friend.
Our children left the nest s kiken to our friendship/ So I can somewhat Understand how hard it is to get & have friends.
I have internet friends & chat buddies.