How did you feel when you were first diagnosed? Shock, anger, relief, etc? I actually first felt relief that there was a name and treatments for all of the chaos I had been dealing with in my life. I felt a little shock because I didn't realize I was having manic episodes, I was only aware of the depression. I guess my mind is going too fast for me to notice what I'm doing when manic

After that I felt anger, like I would never live a normal life because I couldn't find the right medication. Soon after that was just acceptance. I have this disorder, it doesn't define me, I can be proactive in my treatment and live a successful life if I'm determined to. For me it was sort of like a process of reactions.