Dianne, I don't think it's part of the mental illness necessarily. Patients begin feeling better and think they can live without the meds.

I became clinically depressed after a car accident. I took an antidepressant. I began feeling my self in no time. After the first bottle ran out I didn't refill it because I felt so good. My doctor told me I needed to stay on the meds for the same period of time I had felt down. I needed to relearn healthy positive behaviors. Anyway, within a few days without the medication the blues returned. I IMMEDIATELY filled the prescription.

Mental illness is tricky to say the least. Fortunately, there are more doctors who are becoming proficient in treatment. I think the key is finding one of those doctors!