I'm 41, had my first hospitalization for depression at age 14, but wasn't finally dx'd with bipolar until age 30. I've had my share of successes and setbacks. Lost my kids to the state for a while about a year and a half after my youngest was born (primarily due to the Postpartum OCD that set in, but the bipolar made it even worse; I never hurt anyone, but got caught in a witch hunt more or less). I've been on disability twice, and am on it currently. But I've been fortunate enough to have a career and a long-term marriage, the second of which is still intact, so all in all I guess I've fared as well as I could in my situation.

I am fortunate that my parents acknowledged that something was wrong when I was a teenager, but I remember being very depressed and having some PTSD issues as a young child due to an accident. But back then, kids "didn't get depressed". (Roadrunner, I think that's amazing that your parents got you into treatment at such a young age, especially in the 50's.) I think we now have an opportunity to make things easier for our own children, getting them into treatment sooner than we were able to. My 13 yr old has been in treatment for years now and we're keeping a close eye on my 10 yr old who has shown some signs of bipolar.

The one thing I really wish had been different back then was the availability of the internet, and especially forums like this one. If I had been able to talk to other people going through the same things when I was 14, things may have turned out differently for me and my family. But all we can do from here is move forward.