Given that my primary care doctor in high school thought I’m bipolar, my new primary care practitioner thinks I have it, the psychiatrist at the mental hospital diagnosed me with it, and my psychologist confirmed that diagnosis, it’s pretty obvious I have it. 

Sometimes I still have imposter syndrome about it though. I find myself thinking “well you weren’t really manic because you’ve never needed to be hospitalized for mania” or “you weren’t really manic because you were still sleeping regularly; people who are ACTUALLY bipolar don’t sleep.”

Does anyone else feel that way sometimes? Sometimes I want to talk about the general experience of being bipolar but I hold back because if someone else told me they don’t believe my doctors I think I’d never be able to open up about it again. I think a lot of my insecurity comes from the fact that my normal psychiatrist (not the one from the mental hospital) implied she doesn’t think my diagnosis is correct, and before I was diagnosed I asked one of my friends if she thought I seemed bipolar and she didn’t think so. 

If anyone experiences mania in a way they think is probably different from the “norm” is willing, please share your thoughts.