I was first diagnosed about 13 years ago. However, looking back at my childhood, I probably could have been diagnosed at the the rip old age of 10. Lashing out, angry, aggressive, then slide into a massive depression (which led to my first suicide attempt, and my first therapy). However, it wasn't until I went to see a VA pdoc b/c of my PTSD, that I was diagnosed. According to him, during a 2 hour session, he watched me cycle. So he put me on a cocktail of mood stabilizers, and antidepressants. this cocktail worked great for me for awhile, with just a few tweaks of the dosages.

At the time, I was like oh well, give me the meds and like everything else in my life, I'll deal with it. Now all these years later, I'm finally owning the disorder, and educating myself so I can be part of my treatment team.

One of the first things my new pdoc had me do was read a book called "An Unquiet Mind." While I was reading it, it scared me. I saw me. SO after I read it, I gave it to my roommates to read. And they said "wow that's you." But it gave them a better understanding of what I'm going through.

The people here are awesome!!! I've learned a lot from them, and continue to learn from them. Even if you just lurk, and read what others are going through, you might just say that's me. I wish you the best. And I hope you enjoy your stay here at PC.

Jeff