At the time I was in college and dealing with BP, I hadn't yet learned the skills I now have to cope with my illness. Back then I'd just be up all the time, not sleeping day or night. When the cycles would break, I found that I prefer to sleep during the day and be up at night....unfortunately my life now doesn't permit that. There's just something about being up when you know the rest of the world is unconscious....peace, tranquility, stillness. No phones ringing, no door bells ringing, no errands to run, no people demanding things, no responsibilities to attend to. I love the night. But now I rigidly adhere to a sleep schedule. I go to bed at the same time every night, if I can't sleep after an hour I get up and either read, watch tv or a movie, go on-line, take a walk in my apt. complex or write. Then I go back to bed, if I still can't sleep I get up again and do something else. I will usually eventually get "some" sleep and fortunately I can function well on very little sleep. But there have been periods in my life that I've literally gone days without sleep and once even two full weeks with only 2-3 hours of sleep combined....I ended up being committed because I was hallucinating, delerious and delusional. Fortunately, thank God, that never happened again. And I pray it never does. So sleep is an issue I still struggle with, but I've learned to be disciplined about it and that has helped tremendously. TgrsPurr.