I was clueless in that way before I was diagnosed BP I. When a couple of years before I was diagnosed II (before full blown manic episode) it wasn't explained to me at all and I wasn't on the internet at all and just didn't look anything up in any way. No idea what my baseline was, but looking back it was a combination of true episodes, situational depression, excitement/happiness, and anxiety. The depression was at times because I had no idea what the h*** was going on and that really sucked. I think it's complicated and not just a binary episode vs baseline.

When I was diagnosed BP I I finally had a great pdoc who finally explained things to me and I started to really understand what was going on: what was baseline, what was episode, what was situational.

I get the impression sometimes that some people are embarrassed by 'situational' depression and hypomania-like symptoms and avoid accepting this like the plague. But I think it's just... Life. People with BP are susceptible to the same moods as anyone and everyone else (those who don't have BP). And I think this is a good thing, we're really not that isolated, and many of our experiences are shared with so many others, although some of our experiences are obviously very different and also subject to prejudice, including just having the dx itself...