I am so surprised to see how many people grew up with mothers suffering from mental health illnesses.

I felt really really alone growing up. Even within my family, my mom's bipolar disorder was never talked about, and the horrible periods where she went off her meds were major secrets we never discussed. Luckily psychiatric medicine has done a lot for my mother, she's doing really well and our relationship is loving.

I don't know what would have happened if we hadn't got the illness under control. I maintain that unless you have lived with and loved someone with mental illness, you can't possibly understand. Without experiencing it you can't say that you would never run away, or that one shouldn't.