Oh the joyous world of relapses! I know quite a bit about these because I had five hospitalizations in the first six years after I was diagnosed. Each time I thought I was never going back. However, at the moment it has been almost four years since I was hospitalized, and hopefully I won’t be back for a while. When you’re Bipolar I such as I am, there’s always the possibility. Major stress tends to beat you up quite a bit, and bad timing can always create another few days sleeping off some unfortunate life circumstances. So be ready for them!

Remember that relapses aren’t a big deal. They happen. You can do your best, take all your meds, go to therapy, but you may still have to be hospitalized. So don’t beat yourself up if that happens. There’s no point in putting any extra worry into the situation. If you have to go you have to go. The important thing to remember is that it is better to be in the hospital if you need it than out of the hospital causing extra damage to your life. Also, an experienced bipolar patient can bring in the reins on himself/herself pretty quickly. So if you need to get some help, it will usually only result in three or four days of attention.

Also….keep up your medical insurance! I can’t stress this enough. When you’re bipolar you have GOT to have medical insurance ALL the time. You need it to pay for your meds, you need it to cover hospital costs, and you need it to get therapy when necessary. NEVER let your medical insurance slide. There are many folks in some bad, BAD situations because they couldn’t afford help when they needed it.

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