When I was first immersed into my "crisis" and then told on top of that I was bipolar, one of the thoughts I had immediately was "the good life is over, you're going to die in the gutter penniless". Because, hey, I thought ... they'll use this as an excuse to take everything away from me.

If you are unable to manage your own affairs, you should seek out some very competent professional legal and financial help. You definitely can structure your financial situation in a way that protects you from exploitation and guarantees access to what you need when you need it.