Everyone in my family knew something was "off" about me, but they had no idea what. I think I was born with it. Looking back, I believe my grandmother had it and passed it to me. And my parents thought this "psychology stuff" was b.s., so they never took me to a doctor. They just thought I was a bad kid.

As an adult, I had been on Paxil for 9 years for anxiety. Then when I was 33, I went to see my first pdoc and was diagnosed ADD and prescribed Adderall. Within a month, I was in the middle of a horrible manic episode that included psychosis. This then turned into a mixed episode. I ended up hospitalized. It was the worst time of my life. BP really sucks.