Has your husband started taking meds for his mood disorder? He may not be stable yet. That would explain his mood swings and the fighting. You need to arm yourself with knowledge. There is a huge amount of information out there. Get some good books about bipolar disorder. Get to know the signs and symptoms of depression and mania. Google search "mood chart". You will get several hits for this. Look at them and find one you and your husband can do easily. This will help him track his moods and his progress with medications. The doctor can clearly see how he is responding to medication by looking at the mood charts. This can be very beneficial.
Once you have become more knowledgeable about the disorder you can have a discussion with your mom and help her understand the disorder better. Unfortuntely, the media and Hollywood have portrayed people that have bipolar disorder as homicidal maniacs. This is not an accurate portrayal of the disorder or those that are afflicted with it. Many people have no other point of reference other than what they see and "learn" from TV and the hyped, high profile and rare cases that result in someone with bipolar disorder becoming violent. Only knowledge can change that.
All you can do is support your husband. You do that. Becoming more educated will help you understand him and his disorder.
