When I was first diagnosed I was in my early 20's and I was afraid of medication. My therapist told me the goal of the medication wasn't to flatten me out, but instead to take the top and the bottom and bring them closer together, so it wasn't as extreme and was more like what non-bipolar people experience.

That said, it's still a constant journey. I was ok for a while, and then added testosterone to my medication mix and the last 2 years have been a scramble to find out what medication will fix what the hormones destabilize. But when I'm stable, I feel good. Not manic good, just normal good. I struggle with problems common to other young people like relationships and self esteem, but I'm able to get through them for the most part. I miss stability.

As for school, does your school have an office or centre for students with disabilities? My school has one, and I just needed to bring in documentation of my mental health condition and I meet with a disability coordinator twice a year to set up accommodations like extra time on tests or help with notes.

When I'm depressed and am having trouble getting schoolwork done, I break it down to really small pieces - I commit myself to working for 5 minutes, and when the 5 minutes is up I can continue for another 5 minutes or stop. Usually I find that once I start, I keep going.