Need help with dealing with bipolar cousin

[amyT]

Hello- My cousin is 37 years old.He lives by himself,as both his parents passed away,plus he is an only child.He is not employed but is able to manage with a fund set up by his mother.He is very intelligent,articulate and when he is normal- he is a very nice person.My sisters who live close to him try to invite him over for dinner or family gatherings- however,he always tries to makes things unpleasant by trying to start arguments or fabricating stories about people not present at the party or trying to turn one person against another(we now know,that this is typical bipolar behavior).Of late,he has started harrassing my 3 year old nephew - everytime my sister tries to protect her son,he makes a big ugly scene and pretends he was just playing.This Christmas was the worst ,as he constantly kept hitting my nephew on his head , my sisters(who put up with his behavior most of the time),decided it is better to have minimal contact with him,as they are nervous that he might harm their kids.I live out-of-state and am not sure how to help him.I email him and call him on and off.
Although we would love to help him,we are clueless on how to go about doing so,as he is very difficult to deal with.Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks

 

[Dollit]

Firstly bipolar or not he is responsible for his behaviour. Stable probably a better word to use than normal - the range of normality is so huge it's a pretty useless description!

Relative or not you do not have to put up with anyone's bad behaviour. If he's being treated then his medical team should be addressing these issues with him.

As for yourselves then information is the best thing - look at the top of the page and click on Getting Help.

 

[amyT]

Thank you!!