When did your mental illness(es) begin?

Mine came out of the blue in 9th grade. I had a very bad depressive episode that lasted 4 years.

I had no symptoms in my 20's and 30's, maybe some hypo mania.

I had a depressive episode in my late 30's. But I still wasn't diagnosed. I have been on a roller coaster since that episode in my late 30's. It took a number of years to be correctly diagnosed as Bipolar 1. I had a great career as a system analyst in the computer field doing medical research.

I tried to keep my job, but I could not handle the stress. I am on long term disability, Private and SSDI.

The doctors at John Hopkins Hospital, number 1 in the country for bipolar disorder, told me I have the worst case of rapid cycling they have ever seen.

had trouble off and on for bout 60 out of 50 yrs. had varying diagnoses. current primary for last decade is bipolar. have managed very well at times, and others not so much. back in the day, had the old electroshock therapy, was injected w prolixin wch had horrible side effects!

and various different triggers and therapies and coping skills also. and my heart goes out to u all, living w mental illness is challenging in so many ways. but best to hang in there! just recently and suddenly found out bout a friend who just could not manage. . . .sad but determined to hang in there, enjoy life, and contribute where i can. be well, all!

For me it started in my teenage years, then got gradually worse. Originally just plain old depression then the mania came tumbling out..... My CPN (Community Psych Nurse) says he is thinking I have had Bipolar most of my life :-(

As a child, my first memories of being very sad, I guess depressed, was when I would get this big pit in my stomach for no reason and I just wanted to cry. Beginning at age 5, I was abused for several years, so the depression then was probably a reaction, but I would hide in a closet next to hot water heater, and stay there for a very long time. The sad thing is, no one ever came looking for me. I began cutting at 13 and did that for a couple of years. I began drinking at 15, and that hasn't stopped yet. I think I have always had panic attacks, although the drugs control these now. I saw my first therapist in college. He said I was depressed, but I'm not sure that was an official diagnosis.
Finally, after several years of coaxing, my husband got me to talk to my family doc. She medicated me for clinical depression in my thirties. I went through many meds and even changed doctors when the first said I must see a pdoc, no more meds from her.
After all of this, I was finally diagnosed bp 2 just 2 years ago.
I am a third generation med taker for a mental illness, so I tried to avoid being labeled for as long as I could.
Bluemountains

The first thing I showed definitive symptoms of was trichotillomania. It started when I was starting to have stressful family and school life - between second and third grade. Probably not coincidentally, it was around the same time that my mother got diagnosed as bipolar and then never saw that pdoc again. One day I was looking in the mirror in my room and suddenly had the urge to pull out my eyelashes, and before I realized it I barely had any left.

Looking back, I can see symptoms of bipolar pretty far back in my childhood, but no one thought to test me for anything because despite being a bit capricious, I was doing great in school (though I had so much trouble completing homework a lot of time, simply because I lacked the focus or energy, but that always got chalked up to me slacking off). It only started to get really noticeable, but only for the depressive symptoms, while I was in high school.

Mine started with bad depressive episodes @ 15, triggered by an event.

Mine started after a surgery June 2011
I had depression...crying spells. I was first misdiagnosed with depression. In spring 2012 the AD caused mania. I was correctly diagnosed bipolar 1 in Aug 2012 (age 36).

I had my first depression at 2nd grade, lasted a year. Depressed again in teens but this time suicidal. I didn't notice anything until my second husband left me and my only child died - depressed for over two years. I thought I was depressed but was put on Eskalith (lithium) so maybe the pdoc thought I was bipolar. Throughout the time I didn't notice anything I had periods of hypomania and mixed episodes. I wasn't told I had bipolar until my 40's when I started on meds again 7 years after the last time. Now I stay on meds.

My depression / anxiety kicked off approximately 7 years ago .

https://m.facebook.com/?_rdr#!/anita...user=703301866

I began feeling suicidal at age 19. This is on target for when bipoloar and Borderline illnesses are diagnosed. I wasn't actually diagnosed as being bipolar until I was 40. I noticed the symptoms of both illnesses all along.

i have trich too. since i was 9. so i know exactly what you mean with the eyelash thing. i pull both my lashes and eyebrows. i had pulled them all out completely by the time i was 13. they are so short i pull them with tweezers now. my skin is COMPLETELY clean. when people look at me they see 0 hair. when i look at me i see hundreds of hairs that need to go. i used to spend 3-4 hours a day locked in the bathroom in a trance pulling. i used to eat them too. not anymore. but its actually gotten so bad now that if a hair is too short ill carve and peel out skin JUST to get that one hair. i have various but small cuts/scabs on both my eyebrows and eyelids cause of that.

a couple of years ago i started pull from my scalp....im really scared.

I used to pull out my eyelashes too, since I was a little girl, for as long as I can remember actually... then it escalated and I started pulling out my hair. Once I had no hairline or a new hairline depending on perspective.
Also used to pick my lips incessantly, and only stopped around age 15 when I started kissing boys and being worried about how broken they were... I still bite and pick the bottom lip when I'm stressed though, its broken right now actually.

These days I mentally slap myself when I start pulling at my hair, and only allow myself to indulge in light eyebrow tweezing and pretend its due to vanity....

I was weird and had ups and downs all my damn life. Things gotten worse when my father died when I was 10. I never really gotten over it.

I was depressed since age 12 (before and after a traumatic event, there was a fire in my house and I lost all of my belongings, no one was hurt, but I suffered great guilt after that)

I was showing symptoms for ADHD younger than this, I constantly was violent towards my younger siblings if they wouldn't listen to me. I would growl and hit them.

I became anxious in college (about 6 yrs ago)

It wasn't until March of 2012 that I was diagnosed with Bipolar type II, but I believe I had a manic episode in the middle of college, around age 21-22.

I'm pretty sure mine started after I gave birth to my son. That's what the docs think as well. I could have had it when I was a teen but I'm not sure bc I was doing a lot of drugs and drinking in my teen years. I could have been self-medicating though.

I knew something was wrong since at least the age of 8, and it got worse from there. But I had a mother who was very much like that herself, so I was afraid to say anything was wrong, or show any signs of it until I moved out on my own. Wasn't diagnosed until age 31.

I was young I started showing signs around 8 or 9 by the time i was 12 my parents took me took a dr

I've had mental illness as long as I can remember. Nothing was diagnosed until my early teens and even then my diagnosis was wrong (and I had a med pushing poor excuse of a doctor who later lost his license).

FOr me I beganhaving issues when I was about 8 years old. By age 12 I was a a total wreck and my mother took me to or family doctor to find out what was wrong with me. Mom was a nurse and thought maybe I was depressed or something. Our doctor told her kids don't get depressed and told her I was just trying to get her attention. Needless to say that was the end of that! So I just continued to suffer throughout life!

and I have dealt with this off and on for fifty of my sixty years! I just keep on going like the little energizer bunny, or try to, when I can. The best to all!

For me, the depression started when I was a child and just got worse as I got older. It started with major depressive disorder when I was 18 and failed a suicide attempt. The bipolar started showing up when I was pregnant at 20 and since then I've been noticing my cycles happening faster and faster. I finally sucked it up and went for an evaluation last week. Right now it's BP2, GAD, and PTSD. I definitely exhibit signs of social anxiety and OCD too though.

I've had issues my whole life. (messed up family ftw?? or not..).

First suicidal depression hit at age 11. Was likely depressed before then but can't really pinpoint that. Had bouts of suicidal between then and since, roughly every other year the depression would get suicidal badly alhough I'd have more minor depressions between. My ups are hard to track as I don't pay attention to them, but they were obvious enough to me by the time I was 17-18,

I was only dxed nov 2012, but remember as a teenager going to doc for anxiety and being given valium which had no effect whatsoever. Have felt my entire life as a pingpong ball in a hurricane I feel some sort of mental issue has been always there. It played into my hyper religiousness from my teens on. freeing myself from bad religion and finding meds I am finally very stable with slight depressive trends. working on that slowly now..

For me, I was 10. What 10 year old is depressed and suicidal?

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