I'm not sure. I had consulted doctors (mostly GPs) about depression, anxiety, and what were likely mixed episodes, years before my bipolar diagnosis. I never saw them during the many hypomanic and full manic episodes I had before then. They never said "You have X disorder", but they likely chose some diagnosis code for insurance purposes. Maybe they weren't exactly diagnosing me, though.

Q: What was the very first psychiatric symptom you ever experienced? And at what age?