Hello from Geneva Switzerland. I have had a wild journey to get to my biolar diagnosis including 3 times over 22 years sitting in front of psychiatrists saying 'I think I am crazy crazy, not normal crazy' and not being taken seriously. This is despite the fact I am an experienced health professional who has worked in psychiatry. The last time was last year and basically they really did not do a good assessment and made a bad misdiagnosis. I am taking action through our local Canton as I fear the clinicians concerned will be making other false negative diagnoses.

My form of bipolarity is Bipolar I with ultra rapid cycles, running hypomanic/manic and terrible mixed episodes that led to self destructive actions that went far outside my normal behaviour range. It was like trying to rein in a wild horse galloping out of control in a forest fire. It has been 7 months since the diagnosis and initially I made a good recovery on atypical antipsychotics then relapsed but am now getting back on my feet with an adjusted dose.

Although friends and family have been amazing, it has been an isolating part of my journey and have been looking for a place to write up bits of my experience. And, I am being very open with friends and colleagues. It is a medical disorder and as much as a diabetic needs insulin to function, I need medications and it is nothing more than that. Anyone who has a problem with it, they have a problem, not me.

So, thanks for this site