On September 9th, 2025, my friend of 40 years took his own life. Paul Shapanus suffered from Bipolar disorder for much of his life, but in the last 2 years, the shift between depression and manic became extreme. Paul had a long-term career as the Technical Theatre Director at Towson University for 30 years before he was let go 18 months ago due to complications from his mental health. His wife, Kendra, stood by him through the most trying of times and struggled to find adequate help. Every time we thought a treatment program would become available, it fell through due to lack of insurance, lack of availability, or just a lack of luck. During his manic episodes, Paul was difficult to understand and pushed a lot of people away, and during his depressive episodes, he was unable to reach out for help. Many friends did stand by him and helped him find work in the industry he loved, but since it was not stable work, there were no benefits. In the last few weeks, he fell into a serious depression and was scheduled to do an intake into an outpatient program on Tuesday. Before this happened, he chose to take his own life. His wife, Kendra, has been left with a large financial burden and needs community support.