I wasn't diagnosed till age 53, but I've suspected there was something wrong with me since I was six. I had night terrors then---my parents took me to a child psychiatrist who told them he thought there was something wrong, but wasn't sure what it was. Typically for them (they liked to bury their heads in the sand whenever something challenged them that they didn't want to believe), they never took me back, and that was the end of it till my first depression and SI at 10.

I can also remember periods of extreme high energy, although the depressive episodes were more frequent in those days. (Now it's like half and half.) All this got worse as I grew older, and finally I lost my $#!+ completely in late 2011. I was first diagnosed Bipolar NOS, then at 55 I received my bipolar 1 diagnosis. I have never known what it's like to be "normal". I had anxiety as far back as I can remember, and I've always been uneasy around loud noises and crowds. But I was high-functioning for a long time, up until a few years ago, and I've been stable for the most part for two years.