I am 51 yrs.old & was recently diagnosed with bipolar II after years of depression & out of control behavior ( mostly destructive to finances & my marriages)
I was listening to a psychiatrist on WNPR radio and he was discussing how most people with bipolar go to their primary care dr. when they are depressed( versus manic) and get antidepressants without ever seeing a therapist or p. dr. which will not solve their problem and in many cases make it worse, which is what happened to me. He also discussed the lack of psychiatrists available to help which I found to be true where I live.
There are zero psychiatrists in the city that I live in even though there are many medical offices, and it is the capitol of my state.

I am finally getting therapy and have an appt. for medicine evaluation next week. I can't help but think that alot of the suffering and problems that I caused all these years may have been avoided with an earlier diagnosis.
Have any of you had similiar circumstances to mine?