I think most of us who have been diagnosed will tell you that it was a surprise, but it also explained a lot of bad things that had been happening to us. After that, for those of us who have episodes of psychosis, medication was invariably the next step. For those who don't have episodes of psychosis, other medications or coping mechanisms make things better.

If you have self-diagnosed, but you don't have any access to medication, I don't know that you have accomplished anything. There are some coping mechanisms like meditating and doing yoga as well as changes in your diet. Most of those are good to do even if you're not bipolar, so a diagnosis wouldn't mean anything anyway.

If you are bipolar, self-medication is a very bad idea, as anyone who has a bipolar diagnosis will tell you.