Looking back it is so difficult to see when the BP started as I have a history of child abuse thus severe PTSD as well. I was suicidal at age 9 and by my teens I was a VERY moody, dark but sometime vivacious person. At times I had lots of energy and others I went to bed straight after school. I guess it must have started in my teens. At age 22 I had a mental breakdown due to the PTSD but I can also see BP in it. Age 33 I had another breakdown and six years later I am still trying to recover. I was finally diagnosed at 37 after a clear manic episode followed by mixed then depression. It is still difficult to differentiate between the BP and PTSD sometimes, the symptoms can overap a lot.