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 I was in the hospitals alot. I had good people teach me survival skills. I was eager to learn all that I could. I looked beyond the locked doors. I saw with time, that I had a good chance at recovery. I say recovery, not recovered.   I also had to prove to myself and my family that I wasn't gonna let this disease rule me. Medications are a huge factor in recovery. Taking meds at the same time everyday is a good way to be stable. There wasn't too many meds out when I first got sick.   Maybe the degree that my "illness" affected me wasn't too bad. I had drive. I wasn't gonna settle for being a "lifer." A pdoc once told me that I would be in a hospital every year. I proved her wrong by staying out 3 years in a row and then 7 years in a row.   If you told me I couldn't do something, I will do it to prove you wrong.   One time I was in a hospital, I was trying to figure out how to Suduko puzzles. A tech on the unit said he couldn't do them. I thought "I'm gonna learn to do them, because he can't." I do all the time now.   DON'T EVER GIVE UP!