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Originally Posted by Natalya
I feel better now but still decided to share the feeling.
I am new to the board and was exploring it feverishly yesterday, for almost all day. I got the impression that the median age is low and the mode gender is female (although I have met wonderful men here, old and wise and young and smart). The gender thing is odd because it is not depression - bipolar strikes equally both genders. Or am I reading too much into avatars that seem feminine to me? Or are women more open to sharing and to giving advice and thus constitute the majority of the board? Or am I just plain wrong (I am a woman as I guess my name plainly proves).
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I'm not sure about the median age here on this site, but the median age for onset of bipolar disorder symptoms is 21. The average time from onset of symptoms to correct diagnosis and treatment is 10 years. I think women are more likely to share their stories/opinions, but I guess, because I am a woman, I am biased, too!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Natalya
I was not diagnosed, and my parents denied vehemently that I ever might be bipolar, so I was diagnosed not at 20+ but at 35, first incorrectly with Bipolar II (I am I), first with insufficient treatment, then came gradual loss of a family (I have children and I do not see them), a serious suicide attempt, loss of a spectacular job (I am working now in a modest environment, which is probably a healthy thing for bipolar, I am just counting losses), then time had to pass to get decent treatment that still does not work always (probably partly due to kindling theory - I had too many untreated episodes so now my episodes kindle all too easily - big thanks for family members who did not even suggest I go see a pdoc two decades ago despite awful genetic history). So I am now 40 and just figuring things out, just starting to do mood charting and to organize my day according to circadian rhythms, and have some structure, and catch my hypomania before it becomes full blown mania. And I feel old and doomed.
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You are not doomed, I hope! I was diagnosed at age 43. I had symptoms since I was a teenager and no one in my family thought to suggest I see a doctor despite the fact my Dad is bipolar!! Much suffering ensued. I finally crashed after years of escalating stress into a incredibly severe depression that required hospitalization and heavy duty treatment. After a suicide attempt, I was treated with a heavy duty antidepressant that flipped me to a manic state and I came out of it pregnant with my third daughter at age 45!! I lost custody of her to her father because of my illness...he exploited it to the nth degree. Since then I have worked slowly and painfully to the place I am now...functional but still in recovery phase. I am 51. I don't know what my future entails. I pretty much live day to day...isn't that called "mindfulness" and don't many people aspire to that state? Ha HA!! A small spark of hope took place about 2 years ago and it has grown to a steady, but small, flame. I just have to learn to live within the parameters of my illness. It sounds like you are on the right road.