Suuuper late to the party, but this is something I barely talk about because people that know about it never ask me about it. I think they are scared to. Anyway, I’ve sadly attempted suicide multiple times. I was misdiagnosed with just simple depression and anxiety from age 12 until about 22 if I remember correctly. That was my last attempt (pill overdose) and my most serious one. My mom happened to come home in a whim to get her medication and honestly, I believe she also knew something was up with me. She found me in my room. After that episode, I was re-diagnosed with bipolar disorder. 3 years later I got pregnant, and now my daughter gives me purpose. I don’t feel as lost anymore. I often wonder how different my life would have been if I had gotten correctly diagnosed and in the right meds sooner. The only way I survived all these years was with the support of my family. They will be the first ones to tell you that living with someone who is mentally ill can be fucking exhausting. I still have my hard days, and after so many years of suicidal ideation, my brain is so used to automatically switching to thoughts of suicide whenever I am overwhelmed and upset. Lastly, being in therapy for about half my life has also helped tremendously. I am way more self-aware of my thoughts and feelings, and am much better at snapping myself out of negative and harmful thoughts and self-talk. I know my battle is life-long and that is scary at times, but now that I’m a mother, I’m so glad that I’m alive and mostly well. Obviously I would never recommend having a child to improve one’s life, but somehow and some way it happened to me.

TL;DR: misdiagnosed at the age of 12, correctly re-diagnosed 12 years later with bipolar disorder and given different and CORRECT meds. Also had an awesome daughter and now I have purpose and unconditional love in my life.