So much luck plays into it... Do you commit a felony while manic? Does someone see you commit that felony? Do you try to convince someone the bells are real, or do you do a single reality test, and never speak of it again. Heck, does your first treatment plan work well enough that you can recover? Just luck.

Before diag, I was kinda a mess, but no one ever saw me, and I could coast on prior work. So, I've never lost my job, income was steady, and my credit cards and body bore the brunt, but I'm the one paying the bills and feeling the result, so no complaints.

After... I just have a long list of chores to clean up after myself, and a few projects for the future that I want to complete before retirement.

Then I think to myself, what if I hadn't gotten help, or my first stabilizer failed and I wrecked the company or something else unfixable? Just luck, no great skill, effort, or merit.

A couple weeks to lose or save everything.