My Support Forums - View Single Post - what was the worst thing about coming to terms with your diagnosis?

BipolaRNurse · May 04, 2014, 10:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Curiosity77

Feeling like I am years behind where I should be in life because going undiagnosed and untreated for so long. I can never catch up. It's only been since my diagnosis that the patterns in my life have become evident. Things could have been so different if I had known what was wrong in my teens and 20s.

Yes. THIS. ^^

I was 53 when I was diagnosed, even though looking back over my life, I've probably had BP since I was very young. That's a long time to go without proper treatment, and I'm convinced that's why it's so damned difficult to deal with now.

I also hate the fact that this illness is "forever", that I will have to take medications and go to doctors and be in the mental health system for the rest of my life. Granted, the 'rest of my life' isn't as many years as some of you have to look forward to, but geriatric psychiatry is still a very new field and they haven't worked the bugs out yet, so I'm not thrilled about becoming a senior citizen with mental illness.