I think I was one of the lucky ones. Never went through the whole antidepressant issue. I went straight to a psychiatrist, who made me fill out a book of an assessment, asked me questions for an hour, then diagnosed me outright with BP2 on the first visit. My problems started when I was 13/14 and I didn't seek any help until I was 26 though. So I had 10+ years of mental health history to work with.