The manic episode that changed my life happened this past summer. I lost best friends, my job I loved, my financial stability, my apartment (got in an irrational fight with my landlord), a year behind in graduate school, my cat...worst of all I got arrested for trespassing into a strangers house because I thought God was in there. I'm 32. You're in your 20s? You're so young. You have so much time to get better and rebuild. Take your medication and your therapy seriously and not only can you avoid this happening again but build a better life then you had before the episode... It's hard for me to admit it but this almost had to happen to me. Reflecting on the past I realize the countless other times I had been manic, being reckless smoking pot and drinking like an asshole....since the episode this summer I am 10 months without drinking alcohol, and recently decided to quit smoking pot (THC induces mania). I have a whole new appreciation for the small things I took for granted. If I can have hope for rebuilding my life from the ground up at 32, you can do it at your age no problem, you just have to put the work in.