For the past 20 years I have had a job reading medical journals. Here are certain things about bipolar disorder that I didn't know until I knew someone with it. 

1. Sleep disturbances are a hallmark of the disorder, occurring in just about all people with bipolar. Makes sense.

2. Bipolar is highly hereditary, not only from relatives who have bipolar, but also relatives who have suffered from depression, like dear old dad.

3. Bipolar disorder often manifests in the later 20s or 30s. Many, if not most, other major psychiatric disturbances begin in adolescence, not just show some subtle signs or tendencies.

4. Bipolar disorder gets worse as a person ages. I always thought that most disorders tended to 'burn themselves out' or mellow with age.

That's really sad.