I definitely did not see the signs. Nope. No way. Not even when I was manic and in the hospital (and later depressed and in the hospital) and the docs/nurses/family were saying "Bipolar" - I still thought they were nuts. I kept saying I just needed a good night's sleep or it was just pms. I must have seemed like a real idiot. Once, I had a boyfriend whose appendix nearly burst and even when they were rolling him off to the operating room he kept saying "I just drank too much iced tea, that's all." I was just that clueless about bipolar.

I also have children and my docs and their pediatricians remind me all the time that my bipolar doesn't mean they'll suffer from it. And, they keep me grounded whenever we have behavior, school, or family issues and remind me not to jump straight to bipolar. It's always on the back of my mind, though.

Good luck to you.