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Bipolar Clarity

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Free psychoeducation your patients can do between appointments, and bring back to you

A free, sourced psychoeducation program for bipolar disorder

The Bipolar Stability Program is 24 video lessons and a printable workbook for adults with bipolar disorder. It is free, has no sign-up, and exists in English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, German, Hindi, Japanese, Korean, Dutch, Polish, Russian, Chinese, Arabic and Hebrew. It is built for the stretches when someone is reasonably well, and it is built to sit alongside care, never in place of it.

Start with lesson 1 → ↓ The complete workbook, 291 pages

What your patient brings to the appointment

Each chapter ends in a page they fill in by hand. Several are made to be put on your desk:

  • Lesson5 A one-page medication record: what they take, what each medicine is for as they understand it, and the questions they want answered.
  • Lesson13 An appointment brief with three priorities: must cover, cover if time, can wait.
  • Lesson15 A side-effect log: what they noticed, when, and how it affected their day.
  • Lesson16 A conversation brief for wanting to stop medication. It is written to be brought to the prescriber, not acted on alone.
  • Lesson19 A warning-sign ladder: subtle, clear and urgent, each with an agreed action and contact.
  • Lesson20 A crisis-plan draft, marked as a draft until it has been reviewed with their care team.

Where it stands on evidence

Structured group psychoeducation is one of the best-studied additions to medication in bipolar disorder. In the Barcelona trial, over five years, it was associated with fewer recurrences (3.9 vs 8.4) and less time acutely ill (154 vs 586 days) (Colom et al., Br J Psychiatry 2009).

This Program follows the syllabus of that kind of group. It is not that group, and it has not been tested in a trial. We say so on the same page as the numbers, in every edition.

Every clinical statement in the 24 lessons is sourced: 165 claims, 99 published works, listed lesson by lesson at bipolarclarity.com/program/sources.

What it will not do

  • It does not diagnose.
  • It never tells anyone to start, stop, taper, restart or change a medication. That decision stays with the prescriber, and every lesson says so.
  • It is not therapy and not a crisis service. Every chapter carries urgent-help routes, and the workbook ends with crisis lines country by country.
  • It collects nothing. Nobody reads what a patient writes.

Which lesson, when

If your patient…Suggest
was just diagnosed12
has a medication review coming up51314
is worried about side effects15
wants to stop, or has stopped, a medication16
is planning or considering pregnancy17
has sleep that is shifting322
is working on relapse prevention4192021
uses alcohol or cannabis11
is unsure what their diagnosis means (type I/II, mixed features, overlapping conditions)78910
is rebuilding after an episode2324

The 24 lessons

  1. 1Newly Diagnosed With Bipolar? Write This Page First
  2. 2What Is Bipolar Disorder? (And What It Isn't)
  3. 3Bipolar Sleep: 3 Short Nights That Mean Different Things
  4. 4Bipolar Early Warning Signs: Pick 4 That Are Yours
  5. 5What Is My Bipolar Medication Actually For?
  6. 6Bipolar Life Chart: How to Map Your Mood History
  7. 7Bipolar 1 vs Bipolar 2: What the Number Really Means
  8. 8Hypomania Signs Others Often Notice Before You Do
  9. 9Manic and Depressed at the Same Time? Mixed Features
  10. 10Bipolar Disorder or Something Else? Thyroid, Trauma, ADHD
  11. 11Alcohol, Cannabis, and Bipolar Disorder: What to Notice
  12. 12Bipolar Triggers: What Adds Pressure—and What Protects You
  13. 13Bipolar Psychiatry Appointment: Make the Short Visit Count
  14. 14I Feel Fine. Why Am I Still on Bipolar Medication?
  15. 15Bipolar Side Effects: What to Track and When to Call
  16. 16Thinking About Stopping Bipolar Medication? Start Here
  17. 17Bipolar Disorder and Pregnancy: Questions to Ask Early
  18. 18Does Therapy Help Bipolar Disorder? What the Evidence Says
  19. 19Bipolar Warning Signs: Subtle, Clear, and Urgent
  20. 20How to Draft a Bipolar Crisis Plan—Before You Need It
  21. 21I Think a Bipolar Episode Is Starting—What Should I Do?
  22. 22How to Build a Routine That Helps With Bipolar Disorder
  23. 23Life After a Bipolar Episode: Work, Money, and Relationships
  24. 24Grieving the Person You Were: Bipolar and Identity

How to use it

Hand this sheet to a patient, or point them to the QR code. Lesson 1 takes a few minutes and starts with their emergency route.

Print chapters or the whole workbook for a group, a ward or a waiting room. You can print it and hand it out, free, as many copies as you need, as long as it is not changed and not sold.

Use the lessons as a syllabus alongside a group you already run.

bipolarclarity.com/programStart with lesson 1 bipolarclarity.com/workbookThe complete workbook, 291 pages ↓ Print this as a two-sided sheet

Made by René, who has lived with bipolar disorder for more than 25 years and spent 14 months in a hospital psychoeducation group, at Bipolar Clarity. Questions from professionals: bipolarclarity.com/contact

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