Until now, my life was described as up and down and all around. I suffered from intense anxiety, major depressive episodes, manias, and suicide attempts. Because of my behavior I chose bad partners with toxic relationships, drug abuse, bad parenting, impulsive devastating actions, and suicide attempts. In my 20s I did seek treatment with failure. Many doctors were ill at correct diagnosing and I lost faith in the mental health field.

Because of this I went many years un-treated. This led to more drastic behavior. My 12 year marriage was ended off impulse. It ended up being a good thing since it was a bad situation, but still it wasn't thought out and the kids suffered. Amazingly, I ended up with my current husband who is wonderful. We have our issues but work through them together. I believe he is the reason for starting me down the road to recovery, but then I continued on my own. He really is a great man.

Last October I went manic and ODed. This bought me a ticket to a 4 days stay in mental health. This uncomfortable situation didn't go down in vane however. It helped me realize the impact I have on my loved ones when not medicated. I had stopped medication when this happened. I got the treatment I needed inpatient and left with a treatment plan. My husband and marriage was my inspiration to keep going. I do not want to lose this relationship so I stay on track with treatment.

There is much more to it than just medication and therapy. You have to have a plan that includes those thing but in addition you need: to build skills for behavior change, skills for coping methods, work towards personal goals, take it step by step. Its a must to have an approach of change and well being.

I feel great right now, am happy, and more functional than ever. Its been 3 months since that terrible experience and the hard work is well worth it. I've been to Hell and back and I say I slapped the Devil's ***** on the way out