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I spent many years on AD's and Klonopin. The AD helped with depression, the K-pin helped with anxiety. But there were a list of symtoms that medication wasn't touching. For example, for years I had rage episodes and obvious manic behavior of various kinds.
I knew I was "manic-depressive" because I recognized my behavior in books I'd read about certain artists, poets, writers. I read Kay Redfield-Jamison's book Touched with Fire and I identified entirely.
Some years went by, then I started being dx'ed as bipolar. Some wise pdoc put me on Lithium, then Depakote, and so on. I was in my early 30's, but my bipolar symptoms had been around since I was a child.
It took far too long for the correct diagnosis to occur. That's one reason why I do believe diagnoses are essential. They are just for insurance; they give us a paradigm to work with.
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