Did the diagnosis bring relief as you finally had a name and validation for your struggle? Did you resist the diagnosis and chalk it up to a weak mind and a lazy character? Have you struggled with doubts as your experience with BP doesn't seem to match up with the experiences of others?

Have you been able to maintain the life you had before your diagnosis, or has it totally derailed you?

For me, I first experienced relief. It served to explain my overdose to my family. Since then I have struggled with periods of doubt and denial. I became convinced that my medication was making me sick. A year of no meds changed my mind about that!
Before my diagnosis I was a high school teacher. Every day was a struggle with anxiety and depression. After my BP diagnosis I taught for five more years until I completely fell apart and had to give up my job, but that train had been bearing down on me years before my diagnosis.
Now, two years later, I am still unemployed, but back on medication and experiencing the most stability I've had in four years. I hope to get back to work, but not in teaching, that ship has sailed.