Off board topics but I'm so happy again today

[Guest guest]

I have a dear friend who has been unhappy a long time. When I first

started chatting with her online and talking by phone, she was hooked

on xanax she was getting online and had suicidal times. She had been

previously diagnosed as bipolar. I talked her off the xanax and out of

suicide and back to a psychiatrist on a regular basis. (Incidentally, I

don't think she is bipolar, just suffers from bad depression and

anxiety. She's done impulsive things as depressed people do, but I've

never seen a sign of mania. Well, now, after all this time, she has her

first appointment with a counselor. I'm going there in January to

accompany her and be there to comfort her after it as I know she's

excited but scared as well. But, I see it as the start of the rest of

her life and finding some happiness. One benefit of having suffered

from mental illnesses is that you can understand others and her family

just " doesn't get it. " Sounds like lots of our friends and family,

doesn't it. Well, I just had to share with someone and you are my

friends so there it is.