I agree with the second opinion. I have bad mixed episodes that were always diagnosed as depression, and with a father who was a physician, I didn't get hospitalized, as I got a lot of help at home. The problem can also be that some types of depression without manias or hypomanias seem to have a bipolar componenet in the underlying mechansm, because they actually seem to respond better to medications for bipolar than to straight Antidepressants. That is just a thought. If I were you, don't tell the doctor that you had this conversation with your pdoc before you get a second opinion. You don't want to prejudice the doc doing the second opinion. huggs and good luck.