Tracking your moods helps you and your doctor understand how bipolar disorder effects you

To understand the disorder, you have to learn about it. There are tools that can help you understand the disorder. This information is important in understanding how and why episodes occur. Using the Life Chart helps you track your episodes. When you look back at the chart you can see what type of episode you've experienced most often. The Mood Chart is a reminder of what happened in your life before the episode occurred. Medications taken as well as life events are kept in the chart, so you can see what may have triggered the episode.

When someone is feeling depressed, there is always the fear of suicide. For someone managing bipolar disorder, a Treatment Contract can be a powerful and practical way to support treatment. After downloading the contract, here are the instructions for using it.

Using these tools can help provide a larger view of the disorder, your specific needs, and help doctors choose the best treatment option.

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Reviewed: 03/2006