I used to post and contribute here a lot and figured I'd stop by and browse the new site layout. I saw this forum section and figured I'd throw in my own story, abridged version.

Growing up as a little kid it was pretty clear something wasn't quite right with me, my parents were doing their best to figure out what was going on. I was diagnosed with a slew of things between ages 5-9. I was completely unstable and had constant physical fights with my parents. I can vividly remember throwing pieces of a large oak bunkbed at my parents when I was 7, because I was told to do my homework and I was tired.

When I finished 3rd grade we moved across the country due to my parents finding a new job. Within 6 months of arriving we had me seeing a new psychologist. After a couple months of seeing her she officially diagnosed me with Bipolar disorder. My parents started reading the literature on Bipolar and were astonished how well the symptoms fit. It became very clear it was an accurate diagnosis.

I was put on medication right away. The first medication I was put on caused me to have both visual and auditory hallucinations and ended with me nearly killing myself. As we moved through more and more meds we eventually found the right combination, and it truly helped. Between the ages of 11 and 15 I was in and out of psych wards probably 10-15 times.

I had immense trouble with school, it wasn't that the work was hard for me, I just couldn't get up in the mornings many days. I was still having trouble with mood extremes, the spikes weren't as frequent but the extremes were just as low and high. I got kicked out of my elementary school in 6th grade, they decided they couldn't deal with me. I had gotten in a physical fight with the 6th grade teacher. I was very lucky he didn't take legal action of some kind.I was moved to a public school and given an IEP, I finished out 6th grade being fairly stable.

I entered Jr. High. I bet many people remember what THAT'S like! Jr. High is often rough as a perfectly normal, happy kid. For me, it was hell on Earth.

Kids are vicious. I had a girlfriend in 7th grade that I broke up with on impulse, and it came back to bite me. She decided to start a rumor that I had raped her. Everyone that knew me knew this to be untrue, but I had few friends and the girl was very popular so the rumor spread quickly. It finally got to the prinicipal, who took in very seriously and called both our parents. A meeting was arranged with my parents, her parents, and both of us. My parents and I came to the meeting, hers did not. They pulled her out of school that day and did not show up. To this day I firmly believe her parents knew she was lying.

That made Jr. High impossible. No girl would even look at me, guys threatened to beat me up constantly, and no one would believe me besides my few friends and parents. It made any kind of social life impossible. I was moved to a 'placement' school. It was run military-style and I learned near nothing. I couldn't function, I didn't even go to school most the time. I was devastated.

I wiggled my way through by the skin of my teeth and started back in public highschool. The rumors had followed me, many people at the highschool knew me before I knew them, but not in a good way. I made in through a month of highschool.

The guidance conselor moved me to the alternative highschool. The alternative hs has a 'assume all students are dumb and drug-addicted and just get them throw hs ASAP. Problem is, I was neither of those. They had me doing 8th grade work when I was fully capable of doing upper-level hs work. I was doing things I already knew how to do, I was bored. I dropped out.

Here I am, 3 years after dropping out. I have successfully completed my GED, ACT, and have been accepted into a very nice private college!

6 tears ago I swore up and down I wouldn't even make it to 18 years of age. I'm stable, happy, and I feel I have a true sense of purpose.

If I could give just one piece of advice to every Bipolar person it'd be- NEVER give up on yourself!

You can do it, I have faith in you!