Treating bipolar, depression and anxiety

My name is Katie-Louise, I am 21 years old and have recently been diagnosed with bi-polar type II disorder. Before this I had psychotic depression with anxiety for many years.

The whirlwind concept which is mental health had destroyed me when I was diagnosed, but on-going support and medication helped me stitch myself back together again.

Being diagnosed is hard as it labels you with something that tries to define you, and the suffering you go through as a consequence of being ill is horrific. But with the right medication and support you have the opportunity to turn your life around. You have the chance to make something that tries to make you less of a person into something that gives you a positive outlook on life, a better perspective.

I am currently taking Aripiprazole, Venlafaxine and Quetiapine.

Both Aripiprazole and Quetiapine help stable my mood and quieten my psychosis. The Venlafaxine is for my depression and anxiety. I don’t know where I’d be without medication and on-going support… my medication helps me get from day to day, and helps prevent me from drifting into crisis.

The only negative about my medication is that when I first started Aripiprazole, I had blurred vision for a couple of weeks, but since then then I can do nothing but praise it. Also, Quetiapine has a side effect of drowsiness, but this goes in my favour as I have insomnia and it helps me to sleep.

If I could go back in time to before I started taking meds, I would tell myself to persevere as things will get better, even if it doesn’t feel that way. And that your illness doesn’t define you… ‘I have bipolar’ not, ‘I am bipolar’.

I have been taking medication for 6 years and my life has done nothing but improve. I have fallen into the realms of crisis due to negative life experiences, but I have always managed to re-stabilise myself.

Taking medication has definitely improved my life from the dark depths of severe depression. It helped me to rise from the internal hell I was experiencing and completely transformed my life into a positive one, where I actually look forward to the future instead of dreading it.