Hello from Idaho!

Good morning!

I found this forum on a Google search looking for places that might be able to help me with a friend in a situation I'm unfamiliar with, and was blown away at how complete it is. Once I saw the breadth of subjects covered, I figured I would fit right in and, if I play my cards right, I might even be a helpful presence.

I'm in my 30s, currently on medical disability due to chronic migraine. (That took three years to happen, during which I had no income, so by the time it was approved I was ready to take whatever pennies they were willing to toss me.) I spend at least half the month fully incapacitated with the things. When I say this I get a lot of empathy and "oh, I can't imagine," but I'm used to it by now. I've been getting these since I was born.

My mental health treatment debut came after an attempt when I was 18, at which point I was diagnosed with severe clinical depression. They put me on happy pills and that diagnosis followed me until I was 31. It took that long, in spite of me being fully open about symptoms, for someone to catch on to the fact that what I actually have is bipolar disorder. My entire adult life up to that point was chaotic, troubled, and quite frankly sheer hell. I lost apartment after apartment and I'm nothing short of amazed I managed to do well in the workplace. Somehow, I have a solid 20 years of management experience.

I've long been an advocate for those with mental illness. I'm the sort of person who doesn't speak up unless I have something worthwhile to say - in person, anyway - and I find myself spending a lot of time trying to squash the mental illness stigma and correcting people who think mental illness is something to joke about. I've been a crisis counselor for folks in suicidal crisis in one place or another off and on since I was 18 - for those following along, yes, that means I was talking people off the same ledge I was standing on for a long time. It's so much easier now that I'm stable and treated effectively. I currently own and operate a suicide prevention resource that I won't name here, as it involves features the rules won't permit me to share.

There is some nastiness in my past that's better suited for a more specific forum, but I will say I had the benefit of EMDR with a therapist who was an absolute miracle worker. Having been through that helps me in my crisis work immensely, as people with a history of trauma have good instincts and know I'm not full of it when I tell them I understand to a certain degree.

Lastly, while I don't advertise the fact, I am a trans woman and don't care who knows it. Anyone who has a problem with it, well, that's their problem, not mine. I'm happy in myself, and that's what matters.

So, hello all! I look forward to getting to know folks here!

I have moved this Post to The Bipolar Forum but I have left a shadow, which means it can be viewed in both forums and I hope you can get more replies.

Hello to idaho! ! From London UK x welcome x

It didn't happen the same way for me, but I was diagnosed with clinical depression before I was diagnosed with bipolar I. Do you have BP I or BP II? Maybe I missed it, I apologize if I did.