I did copious amounts of street drugs to self medicate, so it was hard to differentiate the chemically induced side effects from the mental illness. But, I always knew in my heart that I had some major issues. My friends who did more drugs were able to handle it better and expressed concern for my wellbeing. For years I just took Prozac off and on for depression.

Bipolar mania can be triggered by life changing events both positive and negative. So, I flipped out when I got married and was properly diagnosed bipolar I at age 37