So I have met several teenagers with the diagnosis of bipolar. It kind of throws me off because the teenage years are so rocky anyway, but heres my thoughts:

I wasn't diagnosed with bipolar until I was 21. In my teens years I was treated for depression. I also had A LOT of anxiety but not treatment was given for that. I don't really remember the antidepressants ever helping. I would go from stable to down, basically. I was just beginning to have panic attacks I think and I has been self-harming since I was 16.

I dont ever recall having any mania. I remember my friend really hurting my feelings one day when she wrote this nasty letter about how mad she was with me. We had hung out with people (all friends of hers, Senior Yr in school) and I was hyper. I just remember having a lot of fun and feeling like the life of the party. She said I did it for attention etc. I swear I was just happy and having a good time. My heart was broken.

I find myself thinking no I don't have bipolar because I have moody days and sometimes swing in and out but Ive never gotten permiscuous, just hypersexual. Yeah I OD'd twice impulsively but maybe I just didn't something stupid. All those times Ive been suicidal? Maybe it was PMS. All the self-harm? Poor, unrefined coping skills is all.

I feel fine lately, aside from some understandable anxiety. I don't think its lithium. I think I just snapped out of it. I don't see the pointin trying to remember to take all these pills and **** when its just me, not bipolar.