I honestly didn't read all the comments, so excuse me if I'm restating someone else's view. I am confused by those who think they have bipolar disorder but have not been diagnosed. I had multiple diagnosis for over 7 years before I finally accepted it. Because of a heart condition I have I have also been exposed to a lot of people with crazy levels of health anxiety and I have to wonder if self diagnosed BP people have HA instead. IDK.

In my struggle to accept the BP II diagnoses, I had to accept it as a spectrum mood disorder first. Basically this was me accepting that just as any other aspect of health (diabetes, cancer, Alzheimers, MD) there are stages or levels. I do believe this to be true. The thing is that Psychs and insurance companies don't operate within these grey levels, but in black and white. Either you have it or you don't. That's where you see the uptick in diagnosis. You may have a severe case of the disorder and mine may be slight, but for the sake of medication and insurance we have the same thing. Does that make sense? It's more about what meds work than what the actual label is, but the "system" can't comprehend that.

I also think our society is demanding more and more and increased stress can lead to increased brain dysfunction which can lead to increased mental disorder.

As for alcohol. I hear you, however....I'm a heavy as hell drinker. Have been since late teens and I'm 33 now. Recently I accepted that BP diagnoses and started taking Lamictal ( I had been on AD's for 12 years for depression. Didn't work). Upon taking Lamictal, I no longer feel the compulsive need to constantly drink copious amounts of alcohol. Magic. It is astonishing. Now I truly understood the term "self medicating"...or from my perspective over the last 15 years...effing surviving the rollercoaster of emotions, mostly mania. This makes me believe in the diagnoses even more and believe that I wasn't an alcoholic, but an unstable person with a mood disorder that was looking for reprieve.

It's not to say that alcoholism can't lead to mood issues. It can. I had a neurology exam not long ago and neurologist felt like after I was sober awhile I should recheck and see if I'm really BP. Maybe I won't be, but I doubt it. I think this it's possible to be comorbid -BP and A, but I think more frequently its BP then A.

All that said, if you are in AA (which I've tried multiple times) you will likely deny the possibility left and right. Most AAers hates thems some mental diagnosis

I'm sorry you've had such a hard time. Thank you for sharing your story and your thoughts.