Welcome to Gaia! ::

Hello. My name is Rorek and I have Bi-Polar Disorder..

Okay seriously though, I was diagnosed at 16 (I'm 21 now), when I had a nervous breakdown and had myself committed to a mental institution. I was there a few weeks and they put me on Paxil and Depakote. I realized that I hated the way I felt on medicine and stopped taking it. I stopped attending therapy too and was fine for 4 years.

I met my husband online, through a matchmaking service and got married two months after we met. Our 2 year anniversary will be May 13, 2005. He has recently joined the Navy. I have no children, and currently no pets.

I plan to go back to therapy as I have been living with my inlaws for nearly a year and that has caused several relapses. I also plan to re-medicate, but I will not go back on Paxil. I don't like the way it made me feel. I am fairly active on Gaia and I love to draw. If you want to know more feel free to PM.

My name is Marina. I diagnosed myself at 6 but the doctors said they couldnt ssay I was because I was to young so I have known almost all my life. I figured it out after reading a psycology book I found in my dad's desk. My dad found out I had a problem and made like a tree and split. That took him a year and now on the third I have to spend time with him. Like 4 days, just me, him, and my little brother. I hate him and have since he left us and made my mom's life even harder. I am now 16 a student in the 10th grade but credits say otherwise. I have an IQ of 113 and everybody else at school have IQs of like .2 and the teachers know I am smarter than most of them just by having a conversation with me but what can I do? I stopped taking my meds after I got suspended for sombody taking them out of my book bag while I was in another room.I am much better when I dont have to take meds because I hate meds but nobody listens to me and they all just perscribe me more meds. Even my friends and they think I havent read about the med they are trying to put me on and when I start asking questions they are all like "Ok time is up and my next appointment is heere I wouold love to hear your questions some other time." I always get ignored when I ask about a med because I am only 16 what do I know right?
Anyways I have 2 dogs, 2 cats, a little brother,2 older sisters, and my mom... They are people I talk to on a regular basis. I live in Michigan. My sister I share middle child ness with has Bipolarity as does my dad and most of his family. My mom's great grandfather killed himself... As did his father and his great grandfather... I guess a lot of my family is/was suicidal. I have tried to kill my self countless tinmes before I spent a whole day with my friends worried to death because I wasnt talking (very not me) or even staring at the guys I like. Anyways if you want more info you can pm me so I dont fill the rest of the page with my boring-ness

My name is Charla. I live in Kalamazoo, Michigan. I am 24 and was just clinically diagnosed Bipolar type II on Wednesday of last week. Oi...
Only a few weeks before then did I find out that everyone on my mothers side of the family had it. For the longest time I had been getting treated for depression, anxiety and OCD and now I am being treated for bipolar. All these years I have gone through life confused, not knowing what I was going through and feeling lost. My meds weren't working, I would have moments where I felt like I could do anything. I was invisible to the world and had a heightened sense of importance (ha, and i just thought I was arrogant)

I rang up to 5,000 dollar credit cards in a month and still tried to find ways to spend money on things I felt like I needed. And if I wasn't feeling like that, I was on the floor crying in a closet or dark corner or in the shower, crying for a very small reason, if any at all. I made a pathetic attempt at suicide 3 years ago by trying to drown myself. -_-; I have a problem with rage and anger to where I not only want to hurt myself, but those around me. I thought they were normal feelings.

I went soo many years untreated, trying to just deal with a problem that I didn't know I had. It all made an eerie sense when my doctor told me to speak with a phychiatrist about the possibility of being bipolar.

I am finally glad that someone has shed light on wtf has been wrong with me for soo many years. I will not let my diagnosis define who I am. It's just hard to tell the side of your family that knows nothing about it when they all start to judge you and make you feel bad about it. Like it's something YOU can help without medication. sweatdrop

I'm married to a wonderfully understanding military man and I have a beautiful 2 year old son named Xander. ^_^

I'm JoVo. I'm 21, and I'm either Bipolar II or Cyclothymic; my psychiatrist doesn't know which yet. I live on my own in New Orleans. And I'm unmedicated. gonk

Anyway... Hello!

What exactly is cyclothymia?

I'm Alex, and I'm 18. I live on the West Coast of the US. I was diagnosed with Bipolar II when I was 17 (in a mental hospital). I've been in and out of counseling since I was 13; everyone thought I was depressed (I had never had any signs of mania) so I believed them. I went through almost every SSRI on the market at the time with no avail. Nothing seemed to help. At this point I was a cutter. I think part of the reason was I was trying to regulate my emotions.

I either am very emotional or completely ignore all my emotions. Is this normal?

I'm currently on Lamictal (300 mg), Abilify (15 mg) and Prazazone (1 mg).

Let me know if you have any questions - my PM inbox is always open. ^.^

I'm 19 and 5 feet even.

>.> Stop bitching about being short, it'll get you in at kids' prices. biggrin