Conditions Of Thought, Memory, And Desire, Persuaded

I Have Often Asked Myself Whether, Given The Choice, I Would Choose To Have Manic-depressive Illness. If Lithium Were Not Available To Me, Or Didn't Work For Me, The Answer Would Be A Simple No... And It Would Be An Answer Laced With Terror. But Lithium Does Work For Me, And Therefore I Can Afford To Pose The Question. Strangely Enough, I Think I Would Choose To Have It. It's Complicated.

Most People Don't Have The Advantage Of Being Able To Evaluate Their Doctor In Advance.

Every Seventeen Minutes In America, Someone Commits Suicide. Mostly, I Have Been Impressed By How Little Value Our Society Puts On Saving The Lives Of Those Who Are In Such Despair As To Want To End Them. It Is A Societal Illusion That Suicide Is Rare. It Is Not.

I Had Been Simply Treating Water, Settling On Surviving And Avoiding Pain Rather Than Being Actively Involved In Seeking Out Life.

But Then Back On Lithium And Rotating On The Planet At The Same Pace As Everyone Else, You Find Your Credit Is Decimated, Your Mortification Complete: Mania Is Not A Luxury One Can Easily Afford. It Is Devastating To Have The Illness And Aggravating To Have To Pay For Medications, Blood Tests, And Psychotherapy. They, At Least, Are Partially Deductible. But Money Spent While Manic Doesn't Fit Into The Internal Revenue Service Concept Of Medical Expense Or Business Loss. So After Mania, When Most Depressed, You're Given Excellent Reason To Be Even More So.