I like this question, even though I feel like it struck a nerve with me. I have made some very terrible choices over the course of my life. I look back on the worst of them and ask myself: if I wasn't mentally ill, underneath it all, is that who I am? I have to say no. Of course I accept responsibility for my actions as it was me, but the kind of heart and soul I have does not always match up with the choices I make.

100% my life would be different without MI and the choices that result from it. It's not an excuse for me to behave badly, but it is a part of how my mind works.