@limeGrapefruit1437 I sometimes share it too quickly, then people judge me. This is a safe place though, and luckily lots of people in the same boat are right here. Nice to meet you. I'm an older lady with Bipolar 1 and been fighting this my whole life, but only got medicated a few years ago. I spent years getting services through county mental health, where they only gave me counseling and not psychiatry. I had to go through my regular doctor and get a medicaid referral to a psychiatrist before i was finally treated correctly. I don't understand it. I was diagnosed, and in the system. Why could they not have gotten me medication? I feel frustrated at the years of my life I lost, languishing in the county mental health system, when the right medictions could have given me my life back. I'm mad about it. I'm glad you are getting proper treatment and found a good program. It's an illness that, as you know, we have to manage closely. I hope you utilize all the resources you can to get as much out of the years of your life as you can. I am an older woman now and looking back, I have at least some good memories of my kids growing up and camping trips and things like that. The happy moments you create while you are young will be memories that comfort you when you are older. So live each day as though you are creating your "memory banks" for later years. Put effort in to create happy memories and moments. Go to the fair, eat the cotton candy, go to the outdoor concert and turn pink dancing in the sun, go to the beach and dig those feet in the sand. During times you are stable, live life for all its worth. During times when you aren't, ask for help, use every resource available to you to reclaim your life. Resources like 7 cups, counseling, psychiatry, support groups like NAMI, get help anywhere and everywhere you can. Don't stop fighting for your life! You'll be old some day like me and the memories will sustain you, when you are too old to dance in the sunshine anymore. Good luck on your life's journey.
