I would also add that I always had a certain perception of myself - easy to get along with, peaceable, operating on my own authority and moral integrity, socially adaptable, etc. It wasn't until I started struggling with my mental health again in 2009 that I realized that wasn't necessarily true. Not that I was a rotten person and had no redeemable qualities...but that a lot of things I only attributed to my meltdown in 2009 had actually been happening most of my life and I just didn't have the proper lens through which to view it. I'm not saying this is the case with everyone, but rather that time changes all things.