It's true you can't will yourself out of bipolar, but you can choose to fight against it and come at it with a "I'm going to beat this" attitude. Regardless how you choose to do that, feeling powerless in the face of something like bipolar or cancer or diabetes is exactly what causes people to get worse, not better.

It's like suicidal thoughts. I struggled with them for a very long time. I was 12 years old, now I'm 33. I had multiple attempts. I have overcome them almost completely. That doesn't mean I don't have them. That just means I have come up with strategies to fight against them that work for me. And, I had to do that all by myself. I had no T and I had no pdoc, and I had no family member or friend who was interested in hearing me talk about what is happening to me. Now, I am working the same road to overcome my SI issues and it's long and hard, but I have faith in myself that I can do it, and it's not easy and I sometimes take a step forward adn two back, but I can't give up.

Just like my mom who lived with stage 4 cancer for many years. When she died she only had 5% healthy tissue in her entire body. The doctor at the hospital had no idea how she was possibly alive at all. She had a permanent chest catheter to take her medicine through, and the last time she was in the ER the doctor asked my aunt how long she'd had it. My aunt said "5 years," and the doctor was stunned, saying people only live months after having one of those put in, not years. My mom was alive on will power and nothing else.

So, a lot of healing does come from attitude. I know my mom was in extreme pain possibly my whole life with her. But she had a great attitude and I feel that although I lost her, it was a blessing that I got the chance to see that type of sheer will power.