Eek, just saw this! My girlfriend is recently diagnosed bipolar II and is still tweaking dosages. We have many conversations about this:

Dealing with it positively, finding a way to be a complete human being while being eroded daily, monthly, yearly from the inside...while fighting that constant fight....it shapes everything about you.

Because that's it, *exactly*. The illness makes you, for better or worse, and you have to find a way to live. Like finding your niche in the ecosystem.

I also like keep our silverware polished and at the ready because spoons can be like swords at times, weapons you use to get through the day. *g*