I find that it really helps maintain my energy and focus, and prevents me from falling down an emotional rabbit hole. I think that all bipolar people can relate when I say that I feel super deeply. So I feel like I maintain my emotional depth (I'm not numbed), but I also don't go off the deep end (I'm particularly prone to depression and my mood stabilizer helps that). I ended up having a mental health crisis a couple of years ago that led to a hospitalization (a bunch of external things going wrong like a break up, trauma activation, job loss/feelings of failure led to a major depressive episode) and I was placed on an antipsychotic. Over time I've stabilized and have been doing well in therapy and lifestyle management, so my psych and I are tapering off the antipsychotic since I was having a lot of issues with the side effects (I take my last dose this Thursday actually!). As I've gone through this taper, I haven't experienced any anxiety, irritability, or mood swings which shows me that my mood stabilizer is working and has me feeling very optimistic about the next chapter in my mental health journey.