I feel like people "cop out" under mental illness a lot, especially for criminal matters. I am new to mental illness myself and am working darn hard at keeping as active as I can at work and life in general. It's really hard, but I'm not quitting. I used to get so angry when I saw people try to use mental illness to explain their behaviors but then I realized that I can only be responsible for the image I project with my mental illness. I feel like it's my responsibility to project positively as a person living with bipolar disorder. So don't worry about it nothemama8. There's nothing you can do but conduct yourself in a positive way as someone with a mental illness and go from there. Don't sweat what others do because there's nothing you can do about them. Hope this helps.