Just curious about what advice you'd give to your 18-y-old self.

(It's possible that this, or similar threads have been started before. Still, I think it's a relevant topic).

I'll start:

• Life's tough, but not so tough that it can't be overcome. Your paralyzing levels of fear are going to do more harm than good. Try to take care of them ASAP.
• Read Gabrielle Bernstein's books. You'll have no use for her writing later, because it gets fluffy and voodoo and you're going to disagree so much with her theories. For now, it's going to get the job done: you'll stop putting other people on pedestals, and you'll love people more equally (and this includes yourself, a person you currently seem to hate).
• Be more honest with your psychologists and psychiatrists. Report your manic and hypomanic symptoms. Report your cycles. That way, your BP might get diagnosed earlier, and you won't have to endure the pain of antidepressant-only treatment.
• Eat. Eat even when you don't feel like it. You need to eat. Every day. A few times a day.
• Don't be flippant and dismissive when your freshman and sophomore year roommates, as well as your best friend, try to tell you that you might have bipolar disorder. You think that BP is as "crazy" as it gets (bar schizophrenia), and there's no way you're that "crazy". Yes, your friends are college freshmen who don't have a psychology degree, and they might be prone to overreacting. Yes, BP is a serious disorder. Be more tolerant anyway. Read about BP. This might save you so much agony. Even if you don't believe in the BP, you'll pick up good life skills.
• Skepticism is good. Just don't be too skeptical, especially about things like DBT/CBT, living more healthily, self-care, etc. You have a masochistic side to you that's going to cause more harm than good if you don't get it in check.