1. My periods of hypomania (in the beginning) where not as recognizable. Friends and people just thought it was my "crazy side," without really giving it much thought. My periods of actual mania though have been at least as recognizable, especially while in "Mixed Manic" episodes, where I tend to be in complete crisis mode, where everyone knows something is very wrong.

2. When I first heard about Bipolar, it sounded like me, but I did not want to believe it. I avoided reading at first since I was scared of having such a serious "label."

3. Without knowing that a previous Therapist had something written down in my records about having BP, I went to my primary care doctor for the first time to inquire about meds for the very first time when I was around 19. I told him I had a history of depression and anxiety. I failed to mention any mania or how I had experienced psychosis before. He did not ask many questions and prescribed me Zoloft. The episodes got worse, and then I ended up in a full-blown manic episode with psychosis. That was when I began to learn to accept I was Bipolar.