"i would hide at home for months, shaking when a telephone rang. i couldn&#039;t let people go and had obsessive thoughts. abilify gave me calm, confidence and hope. it made me less sensitive to light and time, i was no longer at the mercy of each passing moment. i woke up relaxed, went to bed without a noise in my head, inner voices stopped criticizing me, thoughts didn&#039;t race. i was creative but focused, and began wonderful new projects. had no side effects- no weight gain. &#039;worked magic that first day. but after a month it seemed to do nothing but make me sad. evidently that was a manic phase. it blocks my mania, but not my depressive switch. feels like i&#039;ve traded manic depression for unipolar depression. i am being switched to lithium."