Hello. I'm Cat. I have bipolar. I am currently on the back-end of a manic period. And as everyone knows, when it goes for so long, it eventually bites you squarely. My entire world is at a crumbling place, and I know support can be helpful. I am seeing a doctor again; and I am on my medications. Yet I went four years without, struggling through the ups and downs, and refusing to admit that anything was wrong. I did not have a problem. For twenty-six years, I have struggled with that stigma of being different; flawed; broken; or just plain crazy. Hence my reluctance to return to a doctor and ask for help. I have the habit of putting the mask on in public; unless it gets too bad, at which times alcohol becomes a great playmate. I don't want this anymore; I want to be better, for those around me, and most of all for myself. I look forward to getting to know new people who can understand the struggles I face.