How Long to Reach Stability With Bipolar Disorder Recovery?
An inside look at what it takes to be stable with mental illness.
It took me 4 long years.
That’s my answer when people ask me how long it took between my diagnosis of bipolar disorder and when I finally felt like my life was stable again.
Actually, it took over four years and 30 different medications. During that time, I saw 4 therapists, 3 psychiatrists, and had an inpatient hospital stay.
To me, that’s always felt like a long time. I know of other people who received a bipolar diagnosis and then felt mostly stable within 6 months. Many never had another problem.
Then there are other people who were diagnosed 30 years ago, and still don’t feel stable today.
So how long does it really take? It depends. Let me explain.
What is stability?
First, you have to decide what stability is for you. For me, I felt like I was stable when I could hold down a full-time job and have an active social life. Those two things were my benchmarks.
You might have a different definition of mental health stability. You might want to have fewer days where you cry every day or want to go for a long time without…
