Bipolar disorder aka Manic depression

This week I watched the documentary by Stephen Fry titled the Secret Life of the Manic Depressive. By sheer coincidence, an episode of SVU also had a story on manic depression.

Not that the symptoms are anything new to me, in fact my wife suffers from bipolar disorder.
The intriguing question for me is how much of the disorder is what makes the person what they are? It's not a simple question nor is it a very approachable subject.
Let's begin with the fact that a person suffering bipolar may appear to be normal in all respects. They will exhibit eccentric behavior and they will also exhibit manic behavior. In fact, they are very exciting people to be around. Of course they can also be extremely depressed. This fact begs the question of how much of that manic, impulsive, wild, uninhibited, erratic behavior is what attracted me to my wife when I first met her? A frightening thought for me.
These days, with regular medication to treat bipolar, the unpredictable and irrational behavior has been removed from her personality. She is very docile, lethargic and verbally restrained as well as emotionally taciturn. Do I miss the days prior to her medication?Yes and no.

Stephen Fry in the documentary is adamant that he will never allow medication to control his disorder. In the SVU episode, Eliot's daughter is brought to the realization that she must accept medication or face time in jail. Stephen Fry mentions that his manic episodes that involved stealing did in fact result in jail time.

The dilemma for those that suffer bipolar disorder is this. Will their condition cause harm to themselves and those around them? If so then the justification for medication is apparent.
On the other hand, will the bipolar sufferer wait for the trigger of a stressful event to see how out of control their behavior might become? In that scenario, the possibility of suicide is very real.