But the stakes are much higher for us. So-called normal people are likely not have to pay the consequences for their bad habits until much later in life. Our illness tends to hit us when we're young, in the prime of life. The consequences of our actions are often immediate. Just losing a night's sleep, for instance, can bring on a next-day mania. Failure to make a major course correction in a stressful situation can be an instant relationship-wrecker and career-wrecker.

The list goes on and on.

On one hand, we are vulnerable - change is an uphill struggle. On the other, we are vulnerable - we have to change.

We are all experts in falling down seven times and getting up eight, so please give yourself credit for the kind of strength and courage the rest of the world refuses to acknowledge you have. If there is one piece of advice I can offer above everything else, it is this:

Never give up on yourself. You may or may not be able to get your old life back, but you are entitled to one as productive and rewarding, if not more so, than your old one.

In the meantime, it pays to keep your goals modest and your expectations low. Baby steps. Lots of patience. Lots of forgiveness. Progress is never linear. You may face crushing defeats, but never regard yourself as defeated.

My qualifications are as follows: I am an expert in failure. I am an expert in wrecking my life. I know where you are coming from. I know what you are up against. We're in this together. Together, we learn from each other.

Let's get started ...