I guess because I have such severe depression and the diagnosis interferes with treatment for that I see it as important. I also went for almost two decades without it and got my depression treated completely differently. Also I didn't experience involuntary hospitalizations that I consider both traumatic and illegal. It seems that it is taken for granted that you can be hospitalized for episodes with bipolar even if you don't legally match what is required to take your rights away. This doesn't happen with the diagnosis of depression. So to me there is a huge sets of risks involved. Also I want to feel understood by my shrink. If he doesn't really attend to my depression since he's more afraid of mania, that is not good for me.