If he is going on little to no sleep then he is dealing with a major episode. It could be a number of things, depression, mania or mixed mania. All can be very dangerous if he is in denial and not taking his meds. Like your boyfriend, I was going on almost no sleep at all. I was rapid cycling and not sleeping for 9 months straight before I was properly diagnosed and medicated. Rapid cycling is going from one extreme to the other at least 2 or more times a year. One thing all bipolars have to come to terms with is the fact that medication is a must if being stable is important.

If your boyfriend continues without sleep it can be bad, real bad! He can suffer from psychosis, hallucinations, psychotic behavior and could even become dangerous to himself and those around him. He will loose memories and have severe short term memory problems. My friends and family tell me about outings we had, things I said and did and I have no idea what they are talking about, my memory of those times are gone. And the frustration over that only adds to the stress.

Do NOT make excuses for him or think it's your job to see him through his episodes. He has to take responsibility for his illness, no one else can do it for him. Take care of you first because dealing with someone who has a mental illness and is in denial can drive even the stablest of people insane. You can't help him if you don't take care of yourself first. I'm a realist and you probably don't want to hear this but marriages with one bipolar partner has a 90% failure rate. So you can imagine the success rate of dating couples with one bipolar partner is even worst than that. If you want this relationship to work, he has to get help and stick with it. Both of you need to educate yourselves about everything bipolar. When he accepts his diagnosis he is going to need a support system to get better and the best way to support him is to learn everything you can about this terrible disease. Another way to help him is to encourage his family to educate themselves as well. If he becomes a danger to himself or others, he needs to be hospitalized, even if its against his will. Only his family can have him committed if he needs to be and they need to know that is an option.

Some sites to check out: www.nami.com, www.dbsalliance.org, and www.bipolarsupportgroup.net just to name a few.