To clarify: I have no long-term purpose now, because the short-term purpose of emotional survival in the face of serious men'al illness is all-consuming. Once I've hurdled that, then I can start thinking about higher purposes. And being an atheist doesn't preclude that -- it's just harder because I don't get the luxury of swallowing one "prepackaged" for me. Harder -- but far from impossible. Religion has far too long declared itself to have a monopoly on the distributorship of purpose/virtue/meaning.