Updated 10 October 2026
At a glance
- The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence says carers, who may be family members, partners or friends, should be involved in care planning and information sharing as agreed with the person and included in their care plan.
- The Royal College of Psychiatrists notes that usually the person being cared for gives permission for information to be shared, and that everyone has a right to confidentiality about their health.
- A sharing table, four points to agree in the care plan and a summary page for a carer who cannot come are set out below.
- Bipolar Journey keeps mood, sleep and activity entries in one dated history, and its Doctor Report exports that history as a one-page summary.
Many people with bipolar disorder have a partner, relative or friend who sees changes in sleep, energy and mood before they do. Bringing that person to an appointment can fill gaps in the picture, and it works best when you both know what each of you will say and what you want kept between you and the team.
This guide gathers what NICE, the Royal College of Psychiatrists, the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance and the National Institute of Mental Health say about carers at appointments, then offers a sharing table, four points to agree in the care plan, a joint preparation table, ideas for the room and a summary page. Treat it as preparation for your own planning, because care decisions stay with you and your team.
What NICE, the Royal College of Psychiatrists and the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance say about carers at appointments
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence quality standard on involving carers states that carers of adults with bipolar disorder, who may be family members, partners or friends, should be involved in care planning, decision making and information sharing about the adult, and that this should be agreed with the person and included in their care plan. Its rationale adds that carers should be involved at every stage of care if the person with bipolar disorder agrees.
The patient-facing NICE guidance says the care team should talk together with you and your family or carer about how they can be involved in your care and treatment, and should tell them what support they can call on and how to get help in a crisis.
The Royal College of Psychiatrists page for carers lists attending appointments among the ways a carer may help, and the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance advice for people supporting a loved one says to help them prepare a list of questions and to offer to go along to appointments. The National Institute of Mental Health publication observes that family and friends may notice mood swings and changes in activity levels as unusual behavior, which is the reason a second account can be useful.
All of these describe involvement as something agreed with the person. The next section turns that into a table you can fill in.
A Daily check-in in Bipolar Journey (by Health Journey Labs) with sleep, mood and energy lines gives you a dated account of your own to set beside the one your carer will describe.
A sharing table for bipolar disorder care: what you tell the team, what your carer adds, and what stays private
The Royal College of Psychiatrists page says that usually the person being cared for gives permission for their information to be shared with the carer, that everyone has a right to confidentiality about their health information, and that unless the person has asked professionals not to talk or listen to the carer, they should listen to the information the carer has to share. A table helps you decide your side of that arrangement before you sit down.
What you share, what your carer adds, what stays private
Bipolar Journey suggests agreeing on three columns before the appointment.
| Topic | You tell the team | Your carer may add | Stays private |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep and routine | Hours, late nights, early waking | Nights you were awake and how long | Details you choose to keep to yourself |
| Mood and energy | High, low or mixed days | Changes in pace, talk or spending you noticed | Private worries you want to raise alone |
| Stress and events | What has been happening | Stresses at home or work they saw | Matters concerning other people |
| Plans and goals | What you want from the visit | What they hope for, in a sentence | Anything you want to raise alone first |
The cells are only examples. The point is the fourth column, which gives you a say before the visit rather than a surprise during it. If you prefer your carer to listen and write, say so, and note it in the care plan so the team knows. The guide to talking to your partner about sleep and mood has wording for the conversation at home.
A label such as a short night or a fast week, made with Custom symptoms in Bipolar Journey, means the sharing table is filled from dated entries rather than from memory.
Four things to agree with your bipolar disorder care team about your carer's role
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence statement measures whether a care plan includes statements on information sharing with carers and on decision making by carers, and it says it is particularly important to plan for periods of crisis during times of wellbeing. The patient guidance adds that the care team should update their plan every year, which is a natural time to revisit the arrangement.
Agreeing on the carer's role
Bipolar Journey lists what the team may share with your carer.
- What information the team may share with your carer, and what stays between you and the team.
- Whether your carer is involved in decisions, and in which situations.
- What your carer should do and whom they should contact if you become unwell, written while you are well.
- When the arrangement will be reviewed, with the yearly plan update as the default date.
From Bipolar Journey, we recommend bringing the four points as a half page (Bipolar Journey checklist), because a plan written in a calm week serves you better than one improvised in a hard one. The NICE standard notes that at the time of crisis, information should go to carers who may need to make decisions if the person is unable to, so a clear statement protects both of you.
If your plan is old, ask whether it mentions your carer at all. If thoughts of harming yourself arise, contact emergency services straight away and tell someone near you.
Plans and agreed points can be saved in My Care Team inside Bipolar Journey, beside your clinicians' names, so they are found quickly on a day when thinking is hard.
Preparing a bipolar disorder appointment together: dates, changes, and stresses
The Royal College of Psychiatrists page suggests that, between appointments, you and the person you care for might keep a note of new worries or changes in mood, thoughts and behavior, when those changes started and any stressful things that have happened, and that just before the appointment you might agree which things you most want to discuss. The Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance page recommends keeping records of symptoms, treatment, progress and setbacks in a journal or a printed tracker.
Sleep, mood and activity changes
Bipolar Journey fills these four rows together the week before.
| What to note | Your version | Your carer's version | Raise at the appointment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Changes in sleep, mood or activity | Date they began | What they noticed and when | Yes or no |
| Stressful events | What happened | How it affected the house | Yes or no |
| What went well | One good day | One thing they saw working | Yes or no |
| Top concerns | Your three | Their three | Agree one shared list |
Finish by agreeing a single list of the topics you both want covered, in order of importance. Sit down together, and let each person fill in their own column first, so each version stays intact. Both versions can be brought to the appointment, which keeps the two views distinct and the discussion honest. The guide to explaining a hard week to your partner helps when the table raises something difficult.
Once both columns are filled, Bipolar Journey keeps your entries and dates in one place, so you do not have to rebuild the weeks from memory before the visit.
In a bipolar disorder appointment: questions a carer can ask and notes a carer can keep
The Royal College of Psychiatrists page says that at an appointment it can help for the carer to ask the person they support whether they have understood everything that was said and whether they have any questions. It adds that even a carer who cannot take part directly can help by keeping notes, listening to whatever the person raises and supporting them ahead of appointments. The Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance page makes the offer to go along one of its core suggestions.
Carer questions and notes, by Bipolar Journey
- One person writes down what the clinician says about the next steps, with dates.
- At the end, ask each other whether everything was understood and whether anything is still unclear.
- The carer adds observations only in the sections you agreed to share.
- Anything raised in private stays in private unless you say otherwise.
- Agree a short signal for pausing the visit.
Pause at the end to read the notes back, as the page suggests asking about understanding. When the clinician offers a short time alone with you, accept it if you want it, since the sharing table said so. The carer can wait outside, and you can read them what you want afterward. Any decision belongs to you and the team, within the arrangement written in the care plan. The guide to getting through a loud mood day without losing notes covers keeping a line going on harder days.
The notes from the room can be typed or spoken into the Daily Journal of Bipolar Journey the same evening, with the visit date, while both versions are still fresh.
A summary page about bipolar disorder for the carer who cannot come to the visit
Sometimes the carer is working, traveling or too far away. The Royal College of Psychiatrists page says a carer who cannot help directly can still support by keeping notes, listening and helping ahead of appointments, and the National Institute of Mental Health publication says that family-focused therapy puts relationships at the heart of treatment for adolescents and adults. A short summary page keeps that person in the picture.
A summary for a carer who cannot attend
Bipolar Journey sums up the appointment in one page.
- The date and the purpose of the appointment in one sentence.
- The three topics from the shared list and who raised each.
- What the clinician said about next steps, in the clinician's words.
- What you agreed to share with the carer and what you did not.
- One thing your carer can do this week, such as checking in on a given evening.
- The date of the next appointment and of the yearly plan update.
Write it within a day, while you remember. Send it by message or read it over the phone, and ask the carer to reply with anything they noticed that you missed. The reply can go into the next visit page. If your team offers a carer's own assessment, as the NICE guidance says it should, that is a separate step for your carer to take up.
When the visit is over, Bipolar Journey can export a Doctor Report with the same weeks of sleep, mood and activity, and My Care Team holds the notes, so the summary is quick to write.
How Bipolar Journey can help
A shared sheet of paper is enough to start this arrangement. When you want mood, sleep and visit notes in one dated history, the best bipolar apps guide compares the choices.
Bipolar Journey is a personal bipolar tracker from Health Journey Labs on the App Store and Google Play. Agreeing the sharing rules while you feel well gives your carer a defined role and gives you control of what is said. The yearly plan update is a natural moment to review what worked and adjust the table. Below is what you can use and how each part helps.
- Daily check-in — Logs physical symptoms, emotional state, nutrition, sleep, exercise, meds, external factors; read together with the rest of the logged history.
- Daily Journal — Logs free-text notes, voice entry; app-specific items: what the short night cost, partner asks, visit debriefs, leftover guilt after you canceled, fear around a fast day; read together with scores and other logged history (adds context).
- Flare Tracker — Logs flag a day clearly worse than the usual hard week; app-specific items: a mood spike, a wired short-sleep stretch, a crash that stands out; read together with history across weeks (one-off spike vs repeating pattern).
- My Meds — Logs medicine names, timing, dose; app-specific items: options you already take as prescribed; read together with sleep hours, next-day mood, the rest of the tracked history.
- My Assessments — Logs structured check-ins beyond daily scores, onboarding life and social context; read together with ongoing history.
- Learn — Logs short education topics, prompts; app-specific items: sleep, mood, routines, visit prep; read together with your own logged weeks.
- AI companions — Logs Clara (general chat), specialist companions; app-specific items: knowledge, fitness, nutrition, relationships; read together with your logged history (companions already see it); used for: visit wording; a calm partner script; a soft rain-check line; a listening ear after a hard night.
- Weekly Goals — Logs one small aim, whether it held; read together with real check-ins.
- Doctor Report — Logs one-page summary exported from logged history; app-specific items: dates, sleep and mood context, how you functioned; read together with the history already logged.
- My Care Team — Logs clinicians, short visit notes; app-specific items: tends to ask mainly about mood words rather than sleep hours; read together with logged history; used for: visit prep (what to ask and bring); notes during the visit; review afterward.
- My Labs — Logs result dates; app-specific items: blood counts, levels, other tests; read together with sleep, mood, function.
- Period Tracker — Logs start and stop dates, flow, how heavy or light bleeding felt; read together with sleep, mood, energy, everything else logged.
- Food Tracker — Logs meal or drink lines, caffeine, alcohol; read together with sleep, mood.
- Weight Tracker — Logs scale or body notes.
Everything you log builds one history, and insights get stronger as it grows. Custom symptoms let you add your own labels.
We make Bipolar Journey at Health Journey Labs. This guide is educational and does not replace medical advice. Diagnosis, medication decisions, and urgent care decisions belong with your treating clinicians.
Sources
- NICE: Bipolar disorder quality standard, involving carers in care planning
- NICE: Bipolar disorder information for the public, families and carers
- Royal College of Psychiatrists: Caring for someone with a mental illness
- Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance: Helping someone with a mood disorder
- National Institute of Mental Health: Bipolar disorder
FAQ
The answers below draw on the sources cited in this guide, and the app they mention is Bipolar Journey (by Health Journey Labs).
Can my partner or carer come to my appointment for bipolar disorder?
Yes, and the guidance encourages it when you agree. NICE says carers should be involved in care planning and information sharing as agreed with the person, and the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance suggests offering to go along to appointments.
Having a few weeks of dated entries in Bipolar Journey to look through together helps you decide in advance what your carer will mention and what you prefer to say yourself.
Does the team need my permission to talk to my carer?
Usually the person being cared for gives permission for their information to be shared, says the Royal College of Psychiatrists, and everyone has a right to confidentiality about their health. Ask the team how consent is recorded in your plan.
A note in My Care Team within Bipolar Journey can say what you have agreed to share and with whom, which is quick to show a clinician who has not met your carer before.
What should be in the care plan about my carer?
Statements on information sharing with carers and on decision making by carers are the two items NICE measures, and it says planning for crisis during times of wellbeing is particularly important. The plan should be updated every year.
A half-page of agreed points saved in Bipolar Journey gives you something concrete to read out when the team asks what you want, rather than trying to remember it in the room.
How much privacy does my symptom record need?
Mood entries, sleep hours and notes from a hard week can be read out of context by someone who was not there. Keep the log behind a passcode, avoid shared devices, and agree with your clinician or a trusted person on what you share and when.
Marking private topics in your own entries in Bipolar Journey keeps them separate from the shared page, so a summary exported for your carer includes only what you decided to include.
What should my carer write down?
The Royal College of Psychiatrists suggests keeping notes on new worries or changes in mood, thoughts and behavior, when they started and any stressful events. Dates matter more than detail, and a line or two each time is plenty.
Your carer can log what they noticed alongside your own entries in the Daily Journal of Bipolar Journey, with dates, so the two accounts line up when you sit down to prepare for the visit.
What can a carer do if they cannot attend?
Keeping notes, listening to whatever is raised and helping before appointments are all useful, according to the Royal College of Psychiatrists. A short summary page written after the visit keeps an absent carer involved and informed.
Sending a Doctor Report from Bipolar Journey gives an absent carer the same one-page view of recent weeks that the clinician sees, which makes the follow-up conversation short, specific and easy to start.
Who decides what happens after the visit?
You and the care team decide, within what is written in your care plan. NICE says the plan can include statements on decisions made by carers, which should be agreed with you in advance and recorded in the plan itself.
Reviewing decisions made at each visit is easier when they are dated in Bipolar Journey, and you can look back at what was chosen, what changed afterward and which choices you would like to revisit.
What if my mood changes sharply before the appointment?
Contact your care team promptly after a sharp change, and use your local emergency number in an emergency. NICE says crisis plans are best written while well, so check that yours is current and that your carer has a copy.
A one-line note in the Flare Tracker of Bipolar Journey on a flagged day tells your carer and the team the date and the details when time is short and decisions need to be made.
How often should the plan be reviewed?
NICE says the care team should update their plan every year, and a visit is a natural time to look at what you agreed about your carer. Ask for an earlier review if circumstances change in between.
A reminder or a Weekly Goals item in Bipolar Journey marks the review date and later shows whether the review took place, so the yearly update stays on the calendar and gets done on time.
Is a carer's own support covered?
NICE guidance says the care team should offer family or carers an assessment of their own needs and tell them about the right to a carer's assessment by social care services. Your carer can ask the team how to arrange it.
Your carer can keep their own entries and dates in Bipolar Journey, which helps them describe how the past months have gone when they speak with their own support, without relying on memory alone.
How do I raise this with my care team?
Ask directly how carers are involved in your plan, using the four points as a script. The NICE patient guidance says the team should talk together with you and your carer about how they can be involved in your care.
Putting your four points at the top of your Doctor Report in Bipolar Journey means the first minute of the visit goes to the arrangement and the rest of the time to your own concerns and questions.
Can an app or chatbot replace a carer at the visit?
Organizing notes and wording questions are jobs an app or AI chat can do, but it cannot sit in the room, notice changes or join in decisions. Care choices stay with you and your clinician, and a person in the room adds something no tool can.
The AI companions of Bipolar Journey read what you log and can help word a short question list, while the choices about care and sharing remain yours and your clinician's to make together.
What if my carer and I disagree about what to share?
The decision about your health information is yours, and the Royal College of Psychiatrists says everyone has a right to confidentiality. A conversation with the team can help you and your carer find a middle ground you are both comfortable with.
Writing each version in separate columns in Bipolar Journey shows where views differ without arguing, and the clinician can see both versions when you choose to share them at the visit, which keeps the discussion calm and specific.
Who can see my symptom log, and what about privacy?
That depends on where you keep it. A phone with a screen lock, a notebook in a drawer and a printout in a bag each have different risks, so choose the place that fits who shares your space.
Entries in Bipolar Journey belong to you as health notes. Its privacy policy describes how data is stored and handled; check it before you decide what to record. Nothing here is medical advice.