I'd have to say my life actually changed for the better once I was diagnosed as bipolar - my family used to be very big on swallowing emotions, "stiff upper lip", and very intolerant of mistakes. We're a big bunch of perfectionists with Type A personalities, actually .

Since I was diagonosed, both my family and I have gotten better at being more honest with our feelings from the start, at tolerating human error, and not being so uptight about things. We're still perfectionists about our work and our careers, but I think that's a little more to be expected than shortchanging ourselves emotionally.

some of it's magic
some of it's tragic
but i had a good life all the way......
~jimmy buffett