Star Wars fans around the world were saddened to hear about the passing of Carrie Fisher. Along with being a great actress, she was also a championed awareness for those dealing with depression, bipolar disorder, and other brain disorders.

In an advice column published on Nov. 30. Fisher was asked, “Have you found a way to feel at peace when even your brain seesaws constantly? I can’t see very far down the line from here and I hope that you can give me some insight,”

“We have been given a challenging illness, and there is no other option than to meet those challenges. Think of it as an opportunity to be heroic – not ‘I survived living in Mosul during an attack’ heroic, but an emotional survival. An opportunity to be a good example to others who might share our disorder. That’s why it’s important to find a community – however small – of other bipolar people to share experiences and find comfort in the similarities,” this was part of Carrie Fisher’s response in her last advice column published in The Guardian.

Fisher, has been an advocate for the bipolar community and said she was diagnosed with the bipolar disorder at age 24. Bipolar disorder is a mental condition caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors. According to research, bipolar disorder is caused by an imbalance in brain chemicals and neurotransmitters. 2.5 percent of Americans are currently diagnosed with bipolar disorder that’s roughly 6 million people in the U.S. alone.

In her autobiography”Postcards from the Edge” Fisher opens up about treatments which included Lithium and electroconvulsive therapy to treat depression.

Fisher closed her response to Alex with this:” You don’t have to like doing a lot of what you do, you just have to do it. You can let it all fall down and feel defeated and hopeless and that you’re done. But you reached out to me – that took courage. Now build on that. Move through those feelings and meet me on the other side. As your bipolar sister, I’ll be watching. Now get out there and show me and you what you can do.”