Bipolar diagnostic. Young or Old.

I was diagnosed at age 62. And I wonder.
Is it better to have being diagnosed at an early age?.

Diagnosed at 25.... I can't put into words what I want to say but I'm going to say it's better being diagnosed early

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My DX as nervous and high strung as a child.
At 19 major episode. D X manic depressive. They changed it to bipolar when that was the new DX.

I'm in my mid 50's. I haven't been on psych Meds though. Till about 12 years ago.
I'm in mid 50's.

I was diagnosed at 50 and I wish I had been diagnosed 30
years earlier. It would have answered a lot of questions and
maybe I would have gotten help for it back then and
not made some of the mistakes I made.

Age 30.

I think later is best. Or not and just selling the drugs OTC (much better).

It helps to not see it as an illness and so to accept it.

But information about it is very good, just not the wrong kind you get from most psychiatrists, making you scared and imposing some sense of normality you don't have (maybe some do, but then maybe there just isn't a problem).

Edit:
Much later than 30 for problems (including prodromes) that started very early is probably the limit. Maybe 35. Then you have both learned to deal very well (probably) and you have enough years left to reap with meds (if you need them).

It's a balancing act (most things are, depending on the theory).

I'm 24 and I was diagnosed at 24... so it hasn't even been a year yet. The Dx came in August 2015.

I was Dx'd with MDD at 22, but I had depression since I was 11.

I'm glad I was Dx'd early. I was starting to breakdown around the time I was diagnosed, so I was lucky the diagnosis came fast

And just based on your look on things, I must say it might support my theory (don't know if that word is taboo, but call it a... thought, nicely isolated and thrown away once I log off ).

Diagnosed at 19, but actually took it seriously at 25. I think it has made a difference in me being able to have some focus and direction. Otherwise I honestly don't think I would able to support myself like I do now.

I wasn't diagnosed until my 40's, and for me, I think that may be why I don't internalize having bipolar disorder as anything but something I have to deal with -- it isn't "me." I'm glad for that. I had plenty of years to establish who I was without that diagnosis, so I've never considered myself to "be" bipolar but rather that bipolar disorder is just one of the challenges in life I have had to deal with over the years.

I was just diagnosed last year at 44, it made sense though. Doing my best to just take things one day at a time

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I was 32(ish) when I got an official diagnosis.

Was diagnosed with depression when I was 28.

The symptoms were there for many years prior.

Depression started at 15 and was treated just for that until bp dx at 21

first I heard bipolar in relation to me I was 14, didn't take it seriously until I was 25 at my second mixed episode which was severe and psychotic.

DX'd at 22, bp2 been dx'd everything from pd nos to scizoaffective bp type since. I just know I'm on the severe side of whatever I have. I'm 32 now. I would have liked to have got real help in my early teens.

Knew I was depressed at age 13. Diagnosed psychotic depression at age 18. A few other diagnoses but mostly MDD until age 61 and hospitalized for a manic episode. Diagnosed then with bipolar. Looking back I probably experienced mixed episodes with the diagnosed MDD. Diagnosed BPD in my 30s along with the depression.

I was 26 or so? It was a relief for me because it made me feel less alone and like there was an organic reason why I was reacting to things like I was.

I'm in a better place now (31) where I've accepted it and I've let it no longer define me. Meds have really helped me get stable and now it's just something to keep an eye out for.

ETA: I struggled with the depression part of it since maybe 6th grade.

Diagnosed at 32 BP1 right after starting out in a pretty big career move and having my first bout with mania. I am positive I would not have chosen my current job if I had known about bipolar. I may not have even chosen my general career path. For me, the diagnosis maybe came at the wrong time? Hard to say if it would've helped me be more realistic or if knowing it would have led me to limiting myself unnecessarily (probably). I'd like to be able to answer that in the next few years. I'm 2 yrs out from diagnosis and only now starting to cope better.

Before BP1 diagnosis, I think I was BP2 and mostly depressed almost all of my life. Even as a small child (2-3 yrs old) can remember being 'different' in ways that seem now like they could be classified as bipolar symptoms.

Diagnosed BP NOS at 53, then bipolar 1 at 55. But I've always known something wasn't right with me, not since I was five or six, and now of course I wish my parents would have gotten me help when I was young. They did take me to see a child psychiatrist once when I kept having night terrors, but they didn't like him because he said something was wrong with me, so I never went back and they never followed up with another doctor. They weren't diagnosing kids with manic depression back in those days anyway, so I suppose it wouldn't have done much good to see another pdoc, but sometimes I really wish I'd found out sooner...maybe I could have kept my nursing career going. Guess I'll never know now.

I was diagnosed at 32 after a pregnancy. I was so relieved that there was a name and treatment for what I'd been going through -- I think that no matter what your age is, the fact that there is a treatment for bipolar is the most important part of the diagnosis.

I know a woman who is in her 70s who is bat **** crazy - and not on meds, not diagnosed (and she needs to be). I say better late than never.

I was 20 when I was diagnosed, about to be 21. Before that I had just been treated for depression and anxiety.

I think it's good that I was diagnosed when I was because if I hadn't been put on medication, I don't believe I would have made it through college. It was a enough of a struggle as is, even with medication, and there were many times I didn't think I'd get a degree.

I was diagnosed BP1 at 15. I was on heavy meds. I then used my diagnose for attention. I remained on meds until I was 20 when I believed God healed me. I was fairly better until I lost touch with reality and went back on my meds.

diagnosed as bipolar II at 14, became I at age 23 I think

BP1 at age 49. Lots of other diagnosis prior.