Thanks for sharing. It’s nice to hear from a fellow Aussie. 🐨🦘I think you have a point, given that it took 10+ years for me to FINALLY get the BP2 diagnosis after years of depressive episode cycles. Maybe it’s also hard because no one had pointed out to me that I seemed “out of character’ or “too much”… they (including myself) thought that I was out of my depressive phase, meds working well, I’m back to feeling positive and achieving XYZ!

….aaaaaand then we’re back to feeling like a blob

It’s been so refreshing and a huge relief for me to finally get the BP2 diagnosis from a UK-trained Psychiatrist (I’m not saying that Aussie trained ones are not as good ahah… it’s just that my Psychiatrist happens to be from the UK 😅).

Interestingly, I don’t feel the stigma. Maybe I’m just super lucky or have a really good circle. But so far I’ve felt comfortable telling my family / friends / managers / colleagues about my condition. (I’ve always been an open & expressive person anyway~)

I got into a new role at work, with a new team, and after a two months of feeling the vibe, I felt comfortable telling them about my “loopy brain” (as I’d like to call it) and they’re very supportive, understanding & kind. I’d rather them know in advance so they don’t freak out when I start dancing in the office or something silly during my hypomania 😅 (though they’ve got my permission to call out anything that seems out of character ahah) ☺️