Losing My Religion

Yesterday was the first anniversary of the last day I took a psych med--Lamictal--after 18 years of being in the mental health system, taking meds with a 99 percent compliance rate after being diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 1989. Today is the first anniversary of my first meds-free day--one sanctioned by my own psychiatrist--since I was 26 years old, excepting 3 months back in 2003. In the year since, I have had fellow bipolars tell me--in emails usually--that my chances for success were slim to none. One told me I'd wind up dead. I'm in too generous a mood to get into who said this and, besides, I am doing quite well and were I to get into who these Nostradamuses of the mental health world are, then I'd have to point out how poorly some of them are faring despite being "experts" in bipolar disorder. I'm comfortable... [read full story]