Have you ever considered trying alternative treatment such as amino acids and the mineral supplement lithium orotate? I was on meds for bipolar 2 for 13+ years, and finally went off them due to some nasty side-effects. The meds were only marginally effective. I later learned about using amino acids and lithium orotate to control my mood. That was 9+ years ago, and my mood has been the most stable it's ever been. I stopped seeing a Pdoc, don't see a therapist and my cost is averages between $1.75 and $2.25 a day if my mood shift and I have to take extra supplements.

No one has a prozac or other pysch med deficiency. What we have is an inability for our brains to produce or hold on to adequate neurotransmitters to keep our moods stable--and this is just my opinion. When I give my brain the nutrients it needs to produce those neurotransmitters, I feel fine and my mood is stable. If I forget to take them for a few days, my mood shifts back to where it is without them. But so long as I'm faithful in taking them, it's amazing how stable my mood is.

Here's an example most people can easily understand about giving your body what it needs to function. I live north of Seattle where it's dark by 4:30 in the winter, and most days are gray and dreary. For years I would start to get depressed by September 15th and remain depressed [this was when I was on psych meds] until around February. Once I learned that it was because of the low light, I bought a full spectrum light and used that in the morning. I also read that a lack of melatonin contributes to SAD so I took extra of that. It was amazing how much using that light and taking the melatonin helped control the depression. If I didn't used the light faithfully, the depression returned.

Here's a good web site dealing with treating mental health issues without drugs.

Alternative Mental Health