I'm no psychiatrist, but from what I understand with PTSD (I've been diagnosed with it to) it's an episodic thing. As in you can do therapy and stuff and be free of it.
With bipolar,it is something you'll always have. But it's a very treatable illness, and with the right medication should be got under control. And if you think of the advances psychiatry have made in the last 10-20 years, who knows what new treatments might be discovered in the future.
I can understand why you feel it's a life sentence, but if you lived with it untreated, it would be a life sentence. Now it's given a name, it means you can get help for it.
Take care
xxx
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