You don’t know about bipolar unless you are a doctor ... or a healthcare worker or someone who suffers from bipolar disorder.
You certainly have your *opinion* about what you think should have happened with your family member... but you don’t really know about it.
“Yes, it’s tough...” I hope you’d never approach your family member and tell him, “Hey ... you’ve been enabled too much ... you should deal with your real issues and get off your medication...” because that’s a recipe for disaster. People don’t understand that in most cases mental illness is as life or death an issue as cancer is.
No, I have never said those things to my family member. That would be simplistic and unhelpful. However, the long-term goal is to help someone become stronger, not weaker. Our dependency culture stretches to mental health issues such as bi-polarism and entraps the individual into a downward cycle otherwise known as bondage.