Maybe you've already been to these websites, but here are some resources I found:

http://www.disabilitysecrets.com/win...-disorder.html (see the links at the bottom of the page too)

http://psychcentral.com/ask-the-ther...olar-disorder/ (here's a q & a on this site. apparently most people do get denied on the first try...and there are bizarre reasons why)

http://www.ultimatedisabilityguide.c...isability.html (comprehensive guide)

http://bipolar.about.com/cs/experien...ssdi_apply.htm (some advice about lawyers)

http://disabilityblogger.blogspot.co...si-and_22.html (blogs on the subject)

http://www.ehow.com/how_5063459_disa...-disorder.html (probably too basic from what you've described you've already done)

http://www.bipolar-lives.com/bipolar-disability.html (this one has a free downloadable starter kit for how to apply)

If you got diagnosed in 1997, make sure that you get those records and the records of your docs and visits for mental health ever since then. 12 years is a long time to suffer with this illness (although you were suffering before the diagnosis) and it's hard to refute all those years of appts. And I'd get another doc outside of the VA if he thinks you have unipolar depression. There are plenty of low cost clinics or even county mental health programs where they'll see you and reevaluate your meds and condition. When a person is too busy or just plain wrong, that's the time to cut loose from that doc. I've been being treated for unipolar depression for a year. No medication they gave me helped the depression at all! Last month I get a therapist (PhD) who finally gives me the right diagnosis, and at last I'm getting meds for mood stabilization and all of my mood swings make sense!

Here a list for Richmond and Virginia free or low cost centers that would provide mental health, if you can't afford to see a psychiatrist with a private practices, some are for mental health:

http://www.google.com (enter: free low cost mental health in richmond virginia)

There were too many to list them individually, but from there you should be able to click on the pdf or html version of each.

I hope some of this helps. And always feel free to ask or share anything. We're all with you in the trenches of bipolar.