normally bipolar is every day-every minute struggle. struggle against negative thoughts. doctors think without meds bipolar patients spend half of their life in depression and unproductive. for me it is 2-3 years out of 8 years so kind of true. i am not taking any meds. when depression hits me i take rest from work for months and try to recover. but honestly it sounds stupid even to me. i wont mind taking lithium at all if they reduced side effects of it on kidneys. and for antipsychotics there is no question of me taking them since i dont have any delusions yet.