Verified answer

The first answer that you got is the standard one, but it's true that many people with bipolar get sick only 3 or 4 times in their entire lives. Now, are they really chronically ill? Come on. That's just asinine. Those of us who have had many episodes of bipolar will probably go on to have more episodes. I know that SOME people were made this sick due to medications themselves, behavioral and emotional side effects, that are misdiagnosed as part of the bipolar, or due to a personality disorder. I know this because it happened to me, and there are many stories like mine online.

One good source for an answer is madinamerica.com. He has found, from the very small number of LONG TERM studies that have been done, that those who don't take medications, or take few medications, do better in the LONG TERM than those who take pills. Antipsychotics are particularly disabling. The studies that purport to show that a person must stay on meds for the rest of their lives ALL involved cold turkeying people off their meds, which of course, many went into withdrawal hell and flipped out. Studies have not been done where people are tapered off meds carefully, so all there is to go on is stories like mine.

I ran out of treatment options after 15 years, even tried ECT, and therefore, gave up on meds 2 years ago. 6 months off meds, my behavior improved a great deal, and 1 1/2 years off meds, my sharp thinking returned. My husband is so happy about this! I am a thumb in the eye of my treating professionals, who claim that I am a "rare case," but it looks like I am not - there are so many people like me online, it's just that they don't keep seeing the doctor (I have to, in order to get paperwork filled out) so the professionals do not know that the person did better with peer counseling and OFF meds.

PS I am not all better off meds, just improved, and far less suicidal than before, and I can get more chores done. I am less depressed overall, and the akasthisia is gone, which caused me to live in eternal hell for years. That was misdiagnosed as personality disorder. But I'm one of those people who had episodes every year, and many people with bipolar have an episode far less often than that.

All forms of Bipolar are chronic illness's that can be treated but not cured.

There is no actual cure for Bipolar.