I meant to write earlier, I read your letter in BBC . I'm sorry to hear about your misfortune. I hope things are better since I first heard last Spring.
My name is Sandra Santisteban and I'm also mentally ill. I live in Canada. I have bipolar disorder (also known as manic-depression) plus personality disorder "not otherwise specified." Right now I have been disabled since 1999 because of my illness. I've been very lucky that I have my family (mom, sister and brother), treatment in Bellevue Hospital and know nice friends in my Buddhist association who support me and care about me. It is still not easy because there are people who think being mentally ill is not a serious illness and we can be treated very badly. I've been in treatment on and off since I was 14 and some of my experiences were pretty bad, like nasty mental health personnel who hurt my feelings and made me doubt I could ever get the right treatment to heal and be a productive person. I've had to go to the hospital 4 times in my life. I've been in treatment consistently since 1999, I had a very bad manic psychoses episode, I had delusions, paranoia and insomnia and I can't function without medication.
I was very moved by your letter and wish I can help you in some way. Please let me know how you're doing and if I can help in any way or just want to share how your situation is going.
參考答案:我应该早些写信的。我在BBC看到了你的信。我对于你的不幸深表同情。我希望，自从我去年春天首次听到这消息以来，情况可以变得更为好转。
我的名字叫桑德拉 萨蒂斯特班，我也同样是罹患了精神类疾病。我住在加拿大。我得的是双重紊乱症（又名狂躁抑郁症）再加上“尚未明确”的人格障碍症。自1999年我得病以来，我现在已经是残障了。我一直以来都很幸运因为我有我的家庭在我身边（妈妈，姐姐和弟弟），在Bellevue医院接受治疗，还在佛教协会认识了很多热心的朋友，他们一直支持我，关心我。然后，这毕竟不是一件容易的事情，因为很多人会认为精神病不是一种很严重的病，而且我们被很糟糕地对待。
我一直在断断续续地接受治疗。在我14岁那年，我有过相当糟糕的经历，比如恶心的精神健康医疗人员伤害了我的感情，并且使我怀疑我能否得到正确的治疗来治愈并且成为一个有价值的人。在我生命中我有4次去医院的经历，自1999年以来，我始终如一地接受着治疗。我有过一个非常糟糕的狂躁心理期，我有过错觉，妄想症和失眠，而且不靠药物我就不行。
我被你的信深深感动并且希望我能在某些方面帮到你。请告诉我你正在如何做，如果我能在任何方面帮你 ，或者就只想分享你的近况。
