There was a time when I occasionally forgot to take my mood stabilizer. It was usually at night, when I went out with friends or family. As I usually felt good the other day, I always thought there was no problem in skipping that pill. After all, I did not go out every night, only now and then. I kept doing this - and never told my family, as I thought everything was under control -, until one day I went into an euphoric state and felt things were beyond my control. That happened on an important weekend to me: a new client had requested me to make a portrait of him on Saturday and the next day I was going to the opening of an art gallery I had invested in to let the world know about my paintings. I slept poorly on Thursday and Friday and that was enough to trigger euphoria. I had to cancel my appointment with the client (and lost him to another painter) and I missed the art gallery opening (which I had dreamed of for years). If I had known this would happen, I would have never skipped pills. I had to go to the hospital and told this to the psychiatrist that received me - as I was afraid I would be committed again - and she was surprised that a crisis had not happened before (I had been skipping pills for a year or so). She saw that I was lucid, although nervous and agitated, and just prescribed me new medication. I spent the rest of that weekend sleeping or on the couch, watching some TV.
Long-term effect of this mistake: the new medication made me get increasingly depressed. This depression lasted around a year, with ups and downs, and it took me a long time to react and say to myself "this is enough! this is not life!" and to contact my psychiatrist and tell her everything I was going through. When I finally reached out to her, she changed my medication and now I am stable. I do not feel an emotional void anymore. On the contrary, I see life with different eyes, as if I had arrived from another planet and was seeing everything on Earth for the first time.
Please don't follow my example. You can jeopardize your health and negatively affect your professional and/or personal life. Program your watch and/or mobile to warn you that it is time to take pills. Always have pills (including SOS pills) in your purse/bag. Respect your doctor's instructions and contact him/her immediately if medication is not working for you. Pay attention to signs and symptoms of euphoria/depression or have someone from your family or group of friends watch over you. Don't self-medicate. That can be dangerous too.
Long-term effect of this mistake: the new medication made me get increasingly depressed. This depression lasted around a year, with ups and downs, and it took me a long time to react and say to myself "this is enough! this is not life!" and to contact my psychiatrist and tell her everything I was going through. When I finally reached out to her, she changed my medication and now I am stable. I do not feel an emotional void anymore. On the contrary, I see life with different eyes, as if I had arrived from another planet and was seeing everything on Earth for the first time.
Please don't follow my example. You can jeopardize your health and negatively affect your professional and/or personal life. Program your watch and/or mobile to warn you that it is time to take pills. Always have pills (including SOS pills) in your purse/bag. Respect your doctor's instructions and contact him/her immediately if medication is not working for you. Pay attention to signs and symptoms of euphoria/depression or have someone from your family or group of friends watch over you. Don't self-medicate. That can be dangerous too.