My name is Annie. I am 27 and living in the southern mid-west. I'm married with a 2 year old son. I was diagnosed with anxiety and depression when I was about 11. I have been on and off medications since then. In the last 3.5 years I have noticed that medications were not working anymore. We tried several different meds, different families of meds, no meds and have had no success for over a year now. At one point my doctor asked if I had ever been diagnosed with anything other than anxiety and depression. It caught me off guard, so I started researching. I read about other disorders and Bipolar II got my attention right away. My doctors have always said that I couldn't be bipolar because I did not suffer from the manic episodes (although I could disagree, High school seems pretty manic now that I think of it). I had never known there was also a manic depression side to it. Every symptom fits me to a T. I have not been clinically diagnosed, but just researching and having that moment where I may have finally found the right path has been so relieving because now I know where to go, I'm no longer searching in the dark for an answer. I joined this support group because I know this is a long, hard road and to be honest I don't have many people in my life that understand it including my husband. I'm hoping that I can find that support that I need here.