New Medication for Bipolar

Part Two to bewildered from connie y 04 April 2026
People who know my son, and are somewhat familiar with his struggles with his illness, will often say that he is a fighter. He tries very hard not to get too discouraged, even though he is a rapid cycler, and is sometimes very depressed, even suicidal. I always remind him that, even when he feels terrible, he knows that the episode will end, and then he will feel much better. Also, when he thinks he might need some changes in his medication, or changes in the doses of some of his meds, he does not hesitate to call his psychiatrist in between his appointments. His psychiatrist always calls him back, and he listens when my son tells him what is going on. My son does not like to have to be hospitalized, so he does everything he can to try to stay well, and stay out of the hospital.
Maybe your son's therapist can offer some suggestions for what he might do to try to get some contacts, and form some friendships. If you could get him to attend a DBSA support group, he might be able to
find some new friends there. He could try out some different groups, until he finds one that is a good fit for him. The patients at those groups tend to be understanding and not judgmental, because they understand how difficult it can be to deal with bipolar disorder, and with depression. You do not have to call anyone in order to attend a support group. He can just go one line, and put in his zip code, and the web site will give him information about the time, day, and location of different support group meetings in his area. There are also other resources on that web site (dbsalliance.org), including recommendations for books that might be helpful, for him and for you. The DBSA puts out different printed materials, and they have videos about bipolar disorder that you can watch. In years past, you could get a VHS tape in the mail. Now, it is probably possible to just watch the videos on line.

Part Three
Response to bewildered from connie y 04 April 2026
I know how hard it is to see your adult child isolated, and spending so much time alone. My son did not attend any social events, dances, or watch any team sports at his school the entire 4 years he was in high school. During the golf season, he practiced with the team at different courses every day, and they also played matches against the golf teams from other schools. In addition, he spent a lot of time playing golf, often with some older golfers at the club where his grandpa was a member. Those men were very nice to him, and they seemed to enjoy having him come along and play with them.
My son had a part time office job when he was in college, and the owner of the company where he worked was also a golfer. For the last two years of high school, except when that man was out of town, he had my son caddie for him almost every Saturday. Sometimes, if the group needed another player, they would have my son play with them, and the man he worked for would pay his green fee. He was very generous. That man has also passed away, but my son maintains a friendship with his wife. He is helping to teach the woman's grandson to play golf now.
In our area, one can also join groups called Meet Up, for all sorts of different interests and activities. If that is available where you live, maybe you could encourage your son to look into joining one or more of those groups. There are groups for hiking, going to the theater, going to movies, playing cards and board games, book clubs, chess clubs, going out to eat, etc. One can attend the groups when it is convenient. If your son were to be having an episode, and not feeling well, he would not have to go to the Meet Up groups until he starts to feel better, and is more comfortable being around other people.
I hope some of this information is helpful. Of course, people who are depressed tend to isolate, and cut themselves off from other people. My son's long time therapist always encouraged him to get out of his condo, and go do things with other people, even when it was hard for him to do that.