Is this the only fashionable way to admit to depression?!

I'm not surprised. I used to think the same myself. And that was when I thought I suffered with (just) depression. When I was diagnosed in November last year with Bipolar II, I had never even heard of it. And, because I was hypomanic, I initially refused to believe it. I even doubted it because of the amount of celebrity stories and press coverage. I thought: 'this is a fad, why are psychiatrists suddenly all making this diagnosis?'

I had heard of 'manic depression', and I knew it to be a serious mental illness. In fact, I understood it to be totally separate from depression (a neurosis) by its more unusual (psychotic) symptoms. When I worked for Rethink (then the NSF) as a Housing Project Officer, I worked with several people whose lives were seriously blighted by Bipolar I Disorder. 

More recently, I'd watched Stephen Fry's documentary and read about other noted sufferers, like Carrie Fisher and Ronnie O'Sullivan. I still didn't associate it with myself though. I didn't know that many of my character traits, and those of my close family (like my brother), overlap quite neatly with hypomanic symptoms, such as irritability, impatience and gregariousness.

I said 'just' depression earlier with some irony, because actually the depressions I've experienced have been far more painful, lengthy and disruptive to my life, than the hypomania I experienced last year. Granted I got into some trouble at work, but at least I could go to work and enjoy my job. When I was seriously depressed the year before I couldn't work for about 4 months and spent a month of that in hospital. My confidence was totally shattered. In complete contrast, when high, I was incredibly good and efficient at my job, although this did spill over into distractible and slightly disruptive behaviour after a while.

This is the main thing that I think people (understandably) misunderstand about Bipolar II Disorder. Firstly, that it is different to Bipolar I, which I think (as 'manic depression') is a little better understood. Secondly, that it is the depressions that are the most prominent part of the disorder.  As I read today in an online article: "One of the things people often overlook because manias and hypomanias are splashy, is that most patients with bipolar disorder spend their lives depressed," says Dr. Martin Evers, an outpatient psychiatrist. "The tragedy of the disorder is the depression. A lot of days of your life are lost."

I really hope that today's press coverage, which has been sensitive and informative, will enlighten more people.