I started having night terrors right around age 6 (one of the symptoms of BP in young children) then proceeded to full-blown depression and suicidal ideation at 10. Spent some time on and off what I think were antidepressants when I was about 13 and no one could find anything physically wrong with me.....I remember some of the meds they tried made me sick to my stomach, or sleepy, or dizzy, or wired. Finally the doctors gave up and I got better on my own.

The manic side began in my late teens/early 20s I think. Of course, I can look back on this now and know what it was all about, but at the time I just drank like a fish and masked it. In my late 30s my whole family thought I was "mental" but didn't have the courage to say it (I could be a little intimidating, especially when manic). Finally I was diagnosed a little over 2 years ago, at age 53.