I was diagnosed bipolar at age 53 and bipolar 1 at 55. I think I've had it for most if not all of my life, however, with my first clinical depression at age 10 and a second, worse one at 13. I also had what I now know to be hypo/manic episodes in which I was very impulsive, aggressive, irritable OR elated, hyper and oversexed. I've also had religious delusions on many occasions throughout my life that I'm still not certain really are delusions---there are times when I believe 100% that I hear the voice of God gently directing me and comforting me.

About 10 years before I was diagnosed, my sister and I were looking at books in Costco and ran across Jane Pauley's book Skywriting. Leafing through the book, which is about her bipolar disorder among other things, my sister recognized some of my own behaviors and said "I think you have that." I looked through the book too and had to agree. But at the time, all I knew about bipolar was that you had to see a psychiatrist and take lithium, neither of which I was about to do, so I limped along for the next decade having behaviors which scared my family and I didn't have a clue as to what was happening.

Long story short, I got to the breaking point where my PCP literally demanded that I see a pdoc or he wasn't going to treat me anymore. He thought I had something way more serious than what he could deal with, and he turned out to be right. I was diagnosed bipolar NOS, then a couple of years later it was changed to bipolar 1 because it had progressed despite meds and therapy. I'm much more stable now, but it was a rough few years.