I also was relieved to finally have a diagnosis which explained what was happening. I had depression as a 2nd grader, high school student and then after my daughter died. No one recognized the hypomanic episodes I had all my life until my current pdoc did and diagnosed me as having bipolar II. I still suffer more often from depression than hypomania and seldom have a "good" hypomania, usually irritability with a lot of spending. I was diagnosed in 2002 when I was 47.

I would suggest that you get the book, Bipolar for Dummies. It covers are the basic stuff and more. It is written clearly without jargon. And, it only costs $19.95 (right now it is $13.59 at amazon.com).