Up until this point yes, bipolar has robbed me of a decent life. I have been wild and out of control since my teens, I have had to bail out of two degrees, set up a career only to lose it all. Lost friends, lost a marriage...lost my mind. In total I have spent at least 18 months as an inpatient in the last five years alone. There is so much more but I can't stand thinking about it. Right now I am again trying to rebuild my life. No matter how many times bipolar knocks me down I will wait to find the strength, get up and get fighting to have a decent life. At present I am back at uni (part-time because I cannot handle full-time) and working about 12 hours a week to barely survive. I am in the middle of a mixed episode and I cannot bear to lose all this too so I am fighting with all my might to stay at work and uni. It really wears me down, having bipolar, but it is the only life I have so I am trying to make the most of it.