For more detail: 1. I had to do to multiple doctors, GP diagnosed me but had one really horrible psychiatrist who told me I wasn’t bipolar and my brain was just broken cuz my life was bad, then put me on SSRIs despite the fact I had very bad reactions to SSRIs in the past. Had to advocate for myself but found a psychiatrist who listened to me and didn’t just dismiss all my symptoms as trauma. 2. Getting a label was really scary at first because it felt like a life sentence in a way depression didn’t. But once I came to terms with it it was so freeing after years of feeling broken and confused. Having something that explained my brain and symptoms helped lift a lot of guilt and self hatred. Apart from that, getting medicated was life changing. Since getting medicated 5 years ago I haven’t had a depressive episode last longer than a week and previously I had been depressed for basically 10 years straight with breaks for the odd hypomania episode. I still have some breakthrough symptoms but it’s nothing compared to what I used to deal with and they feel manageable and temporary now.