I have an ex who struggles with mental illness. One of the most interesting things I've learned about it is that when she's on her meds, the rest of the world sees her like everyone else, but SHE feels altered, unbalanced, not herself.
When she's NOT on the meds, the rest of the world sees her symptoms of mental illness. But this is when she feels normal, balanced, herself.
Therein lies the problem.
I'm sure what I've just said has been well known in behavioral health circles since the beginning of time, but it's new to me. Makes me wonder if positive reinforcement during times of treatment isn't extremely important.