Attitude Regarding Medication

That they can´t get by on their own resources, That an outside substance is needed for them to be okay: many people, too, worry that the medication they take now will, at some point down the road, adversely affect other aspects of their health, like liver functioning (since many drugs are metabolized in the liver)

When it comes to psychiatric illnesses, negative attitudes toward medication often are even stronger. Needing medication to stay physically healthy, such as to prevent life-threatening heart disease, is one thing; needing a drug just to be "normal" can feel like a serious admission of inadequacy or weakness of character because psychiatric disorders still carry a stigma in the minds of many people. People also may be worried that these drugs, because they alter brain chemistry, will change their personalities or have effects on emotions or behavior that feel foreign or uncomfortable or will cause them to "lose control". In addition, because bipolar disorder is essentially a disturbance of mood, some individuals have trouble seeing it as a medical problem and, consequently, aren´t open to a medical solution. And, of course, rejecting medical treatment for an illness is a way of denying that one has that illness or at least minimizing its significance.

The concept of taking medication regularly makes perfect sense once a person truly acknowledges that bipolar disorder is a lifelong medical illness.

Source: 
When Someone You love is Bipolar.Cynthia G. Last, PHD