i only knew one other person with bipolar when i was first experiencing the symptoms in high school. she was really erratic, not like me. i had no way of comparing how i was feeling to anyone else, and no one really diagnosed people like me (BPII) back then, or not from where i was standing in 1995.
when i first was diagnosed in 2009 after a fairly disruptive episode, but i didn't believe it. then i tried meds and they gave me some side effects so i just let it go and got by somehow without any big disruptions until this year. i had an episode over the past several months and went back on lamictal and it is working really well and i feel okay now, i accept the diagnosis now. i'm basically almost 40 and just accepting something that i can see symptoms of back into my early adolescence.