Thank you for the acknowledgement, tal.
One of the biggest difficulties with treating bipolarism or other serious mental health diseases is noncompliance with medication.
And, I understand why; they have undesireable side effects. There have been so many times where the thought of, "I'll just quit my meds for a few weeks and lose a few pounds, even if I go just a little crazy..." has crossed my mind.
But, you never just "go a little crazy," you start tanking really quickly and then you start making bad decisions which, unfortunately, can sometimes include, "I just want to get off of this ride."
Look, I just have to bring it up because mental health diseases are so stigmatized, and there might be (probably are) people on this site that also have a serious mental illness. The worst message they could possibly internalize is that medication is bad. Because, like you said, people die from these illnesses and medication noncompliance is a big reason why.
Carry on!