I was in and out of the hospital, falling flat on my face every time I came close to finding a direction in life. Then my son was born and I was in the State Hospital. Even manic I decided I would accept taking lithium so that I could get off the roller coaster. I went 25 years on lithium without a relapse until two years ago when my mother died. I was careless with my meds and ended up in the hospital again. I'm stable again. I hope your wife somehow accepts her illness and gets the help she obviously needs.