This is so true. I've been quite lucky - once I was properly diagnosed that is. Initially, I was misdiagnosed (by a GP out of her depth trying to work with MI) as MDD. Thus began a series of ADs by themselves. First one seemed to work - waaay too quickly. Not knowing I had BP at that point, I didn't realize that in fact it sent me into hypomania, not wellness. .. of course the crashes and ups started to rapidly increase and be worse. Biggest problem was that I blamed myself for not responding properly which gave me a very hard time admitting it and as a result was not being honest about how bad it was. Fortunately, she finally recommended a Pdoc and I was finally properly diagnosed and medicated.

Point is, years of needless suffering was the result of not being honest about it.