I was officially diagnosed in 2012, but looking back I think I've been bipolar for much, if not all, of my life. I had night terrors as a child, along with distinct periods of agitation and depression. My first serious depressive episode occurred when I was only 10, a second at 13. I also had times of what I believe was mania, which only got worse with age.

About a dozen years ago I picked up Jane Pauley's book Skywriting: A Life Out of the Blue, about living with BP. As I was perusing it, my sister---who was also looking at a copy---said, "I think you have that". I couldn't deny it, but since all I knew about the disease was that you had to take lithium for it (and I did know about all the complications it can carry) and I didn't want that, I put the idea away. All I had at the time was a diagnosis of depression, and I didn't see any reason to pursue a different diagnosis.

But bipolar has a way of chasing you down, and the episodes (which I only now recognize as such) got worse and worse until my internist demanded I undergo a psych consult. I reluctantly allowed it, and the rest, as they say, is history.