Have there been times that you felt much more self-confident than usual?
Have there been times that you got much less sleep than usual and found you didn't really miss it?
Have there been times that you were much more talkative or spoke faster than usual?
Have there been times that thoughts raced through your head or you couldn't slow your mind down?
Have there been times that you were so irritable that you shouted at people or started fights or arguments?
Have there been times that you felt so good or so hyper that other people thought you were not your normal self or you were so hyper that you got into trouble?

I sat in a doctors office a few weeks ago, and had a twelve point checklist read at me, to which I answered every question yes.
If anyone asked me, I’d have said it was a test asking who I am. I would have said the test had been written for me, to describe me, at my best and worst. “than usual” Is simply an idiotic phrase to use when I am like this all the time. This is usual. What are they talking about not feeling like myself? The only time in my life I didn’t feel like myself was when I was on medication. These “wild” feelings are all what I feel like, all the time, every day. This is my life, in twelve questions.
The doctor, with delight, sat up and said, “We have a pill for that! You can be cured.”

Why am I putting myself thru this? I have a vivid and active spiritual life, I have managed my symptoms for the past five years without medication, without therapy. Why doesn’t anyone give me any credit for this? My doctor acts like I have lived like a hobo because I managed my symptoms with meditation. “Well it is a gift and a curse…”
So what the hell happened to the gift side of this equation? Does this mean I should fling aside the gift with wild abandon?