The only reason it wasn't difficult for me to believe was because I only came to the conclusion after I caused a huge downward spiral in my life as a result of my impulsivity, carelessness, & inablility to take the consequences for my decisions. (Mania also gives me a pretty wicked series of ASPD-like qualities!) Not to mention, my mother is type I & my sister is type II. However, I came to the conclusion myself since I've yet to see a professional due to my lack of insurance. But I've always kept very in tune with myself & when I started to notice how I had changed completely over the course of a year, that was some cause for re-evaluation. Now that I've been comfortable with my self-diagnosis for almost a year, it really does help me sometimes to cope with my mood swings once I realize the true cause of my overreactions. Sometimes though, the "beating yourself up" thing kicks in & you feel defective... But you must realize that it's not your fault that you have this & you're not cursed: At your conception, no one could have positively predicted this or decided you were going to have this. And of course you never wished this or brought this upon yourself. It's a flawed, unproductive way of thinking & it helps a ****ton more to use this fact as a point of reference to heal, rather than to crucify yourself.