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OP here, I had posted a lengthy explanation but while one of my comments appeared, that did not. Not sure why... I have a severe form of bipolar disorder. After I was diagnosed, I spent several years in and out of the hospital as my doctor tried me on almost every type of mood stabilizer and antipsychotic in existence. During that time, I was pretty much unable to function. After a long trial-and-error period, we found the medications I'm on now. I've been taking them for several years now and since then, I've been able to go back to school, succeed at my degree, get a job in my field, get married, start a family (after seeing the right specialists and taking all the necessary precautions) and lead a normal life. Considering how long it took to find the right combination and dosages of medication, my psychiatrist and I are both scared switching would upset that balance. Confirming our fear is the fact that every time we've tried to lower the dosage even slightly, I've started getting symptoms and we've had to bring th dosage back up. As to why I would miss a dose, it happens very rarely, but on occasion I've had to skip one because I needed to be 100% awake and present for something and knew I couldn't achieve that with the side effects of my medication. That being said, the half-life is long enough that skipping one dose, once in a while doesn't have a noticeable effect. I'm also very careful about not doing that if I feel fragile, because having dealt with my illness for over a decade now, I know my limits and want to make sure things never go back to the way they were before I was stable. I'm very grateful for having been able to find the right treatment and would never do anything to jeopardize it, like going off my medication without a doctor telling me to. I have no illusions about what's made me stable. It is a little scary, though, thinking that my body needs the medication that much...

OP here. There have been a few questions, so I will take the time to answer them. First off, my siblings are 9 and 11 (I am a whopping 10 years older than them. Yay me.), so at this age I would like for them to keep being happy and innocent on Christmas and not associate it with the day their family was torn apart. In the case of my mom, she wasn't caught, but the reason I was the one who had to hide everything was because she was being heavily medicated after having a surgery and almost let it slip the night before. My dad has cheated on my mother multiple times and has not treated her very well, so I can understand why she would cheat and I don't pity him. I guess I've dealt with my mom crying over him for so long that I've seen this coming and it is karma. No matter what happens from here, I will not allow my siblings to be sad and have their family torn from them on Christmas because the adults don't know how to adult.

OP here second attempt. Stubbies are Australian shorts which are very short. Commonly worn with thongs and a singlet, classy! Anyway, you know when you are on a diet and you are not allowed to eat chocolate. It's the same trying to not look at a pair of danglies. And I knew you all would put up some great comments. Thank you :)