life help: I’m 23 and I have just been diagnosed with Bi-Polar Disorder. - Help.com

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They told you you’d have to take “certain pills” for life?? That doesn’t sound too good. It sounds ridiculous actually. I’d suggest you to go to counseling instead before taking these pills. Sadly a lot of doctors just prescribe medication to any random depressed people and it’s wrong. Medication tend to do more damage than anything else. It’s just a temporary solution to avoid looking into the problems who led you there. Sorting out these problems is the way forward.

folks diagnosed with bi-polar condition definately take meds… their life is enhanced to a degree because of it. The problem with bi-polar is that there are extreme highs, that are followed by extreme lows… in the high phase you don’t need meds (or feel you don’t) but if you’re off your meds when the lows come, then you can crash and burn pretty easily. I’m confident that talk therapy would be good.. and it was probably prescribed to you too, to help you cope better… I’m dont know if you can do it talk therapy alone though… from what I hear it’s alot harder that way.

Unfortunately, the meds are the only efficient way of controlling this condition for the time being anyways. I hope research goes on to find a better way of dealing with it in the future. If you experience extreme highs and lows, taking just the right amount of the medication will make your life better.
Let me tell you also, it is no fun living with someone with this health problem when it is left untreated, especially when that person denies having a problem! Very exhausting!
I suggest you take the meds, go for the counselling, and keep searching for any new developments concerning this disorder. They are bound to come up with something else in the future. Don’t despair. No one knows what the future holds.
But keep looking. I found solutions to my health problems that most doctors don’t even know about yet… throught the Internet! Yeah for Internet! And I am doing very well right now without the doctor’s help! So hang in there. :)

excellent reply Marylou… thank you :)

Merci Richard!

Doctors frequently thing that disorders are like diseases. They try to cure, not to heal. Pills suppress the symptoms, but do nothing for the cause. The only one who can truly help you is yourself. Stay strong, be positive, and don’t allow yourself to collapse. No one makes your mind but you, and whatever happens, you must never let someone tell you what you are. Not that I’m saying deny the disorder; no, never ignore problems. Just accept what you know to be the truth and crash right through it. Live. Heal. Be well.