To quote manymiles "it is a social construct". And this construct is even more difficult without financial means. I was finally diagnosed at 54 yrs. and it took a lot of medication and one smart doctor to stabilize me ( always considered highly functional). Stay in college ,read everything on Bipolar ,seek strategies that will work for you and don't apologize. Also, for me my episodes seemed to get worse as I aged but that's me I was not on any kind of meds till I reached 54 and was homeless. No financial means!