Krista's Story
For most people, buying a home represents a desirable and attainable financial goal. But for Krista, who has bipolar disorder and feared she would never be able to live on her own, purchasing a new townhouse symbolizes much more: the promise of an independent future.
With the help of her family and doctor, Krista, a 29-year-old sales representative, has been able to work full-time, manage her condition, and save enough money to buy her own home.
Just a few short years ago, all of those things seemed impossible. In the weeks after Krista was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, she and her fiancé broke up, and she had to stop working temporarily because of her condition. Luckily, Krista's family stayed by her side.
"My mom has been my savior, doing little things like picking up dry cleaning and just taking care of things that make me frustrated," Krista says.
Krista has always been full of energy and eager to take on multiple projects at once. In her early twenties, that lifestyle became especially stressful. Krista was working at a new job, planning her wedding, and her and her fiancé's future home. She started sleeping less — as little as three or four hours each night — and crying more. At the same time, she began making more and more sales calls at work.
Finally, Krista became delusional, imagining that a film crew was making a movie in her neighborhood and that government agents were watching her. One night, she drove two hours to her mother's house to hide. That's where she found help.
Krista's father, who also has bipolar disorder, took her to see his psychiatrist, who put her on a regimen of medications.
After a brief time off, Krista eagerly returned to work and to her former life. But a major part of that life was gone: the wedding was off. Then, before long, Krista began to doubt that she needed the medications her doctor had prescribed and slowly stopped taking them. She grew increasingly anxious and demanding. Sleep was again replaced by worry. And Krista became paranoid, delusional, and verbally abusive, which landed her in a psychiatric hospital, restrained.
"That was one of the scariest things in my entire life," she recalls. "It was definitely an earthshaking wake-up, and I finally learned that I have an illness."
Two weeks later, Krista left the hospital, moved in with her mother, and started over. This time, though, she took her condition and her need for medication seriously. Krista began attending support group meetings and eventually founded a chapter of the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance near her home.
"The more I verbalize it, the more I can reinforce in my own mind that this is so real," she says.
She speaks frequently to other mental illness support groups and sees her doctor and therapist regularly. Of course, moving into her own home and continuing to work full-time will be a challenge, but Krista has a lot of support, and she is grateful.
"I do feel that I'm lucky," she says. "My family takes care of me. I work for a company where I can get any medication my doctor prescribes (through insurance benefits). I'm pretty much surrounded by well-educated people who are accepting of the illness."
"There's not really anything that I think I'm missing out on."
Visit the Bipolar Help Center to read more stories of hope.
