Bipolar Disorder Support Groups
Here is a sample list of Bipolar Disorder Support Groups
# Child and Adolescent Bipolar Foundation
A community center with message boards, online support groups and chats.
# Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance
Find support groups in your area, or learn how to start a support group.
# McMan's Depression and Bipolar Web
Forums and personal stories from bipolar individuals.
# Moodswing.org
A Web community providing support for individuals with bipolar disorder.
#The Bipolar Support Group
http://www.bipolarsupportgroup.net/
# Also in the USA - We recommend you contact you local office of NAMI: National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI)
* For a listing of local NAMI chapters check here: NAMI list of Local Chapters/Affiliates
* Some of the good local chapter web sites include: New York Metro NAMI, and California NAMI
* US Department of Health and Social Services: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration - Local Office Locator
* National Mental Health Association - Local Office Locator
* New York Support Consumer-Published Publication - New York City Voices
# In Canada, Join the Mood Disorders Society of Canada - and also (if appropriate - and the diagnosis is unclear) check out the local chapter of The Schizophrenia Society of Canada and provincial chapters
* Here is a good example of a more progressive approach to providing information to the public,: PsychosisSucks
* Canadian Mental Health Association - Office Locator
For the face-to-face groups, there's one place to start if you're depressed or bipolar: The Depression & Bipolar Support Alliance Directory of Support Groups.
There's also a bipolar meet up the second Monday of each month.
Brainstorm: Your Pediatric Bipolar InfoSource Absolutely fantastic and vital resource for all of you parents out there with bipolar children. This is the no bullshit place to go for information on meds, treatments, dealing with doctors and schools and just dealing with more than one life ravaged by an illness that is hard enough to be comprehended by an adult who has it. It's a moderately active forum, but well worth being involved with if your kid is on the bipolar rollercoaster and/or med-go-round.
Mood Garden - Online home of a New Jersey-based support group, but open to anyone. Meds, life on the mood yo-yo, comorbid anxiety & panic, support for people with bipolar family members, and the horrors of poetry.
Here's where I used to hang out a lot: the Bipolar Fora on about.com. I was the co-host of the Medications folder and former host of the News & Information folder on the main forum. The support and information here is the amongst the best.
