I was one of the 71% of people misdiagnosed with depression. Here’s why it matters.
I was 20 years old when it became clear that things weren’t OK with my mental health. At the time, I was in college and I wasn’t sleeping much. I was drinking every night and going out all the time—typical college student behavior. But then, something changed and my friends started to notice I wasn’t acting like myself.
I didn’t want to be on medication so, at my follow-up appointments, I would repeatedly insist that I felt fine, even though I didn’t. I kept trying to convince my doctor to lower my dosage, and eventually he took me off of the antidepressants.Six months after being hospitalized, I had my first manic episode. I felt invincible and I couldn’t sleep.
My doctor called another family meeting and warned me that if I didn’t go to the behavioral classes and take my medications, my bipolar disorder could take on schizophrenia symptoms, such as psychosis. The doctor’s warning scared me to becoming invested in my mental health.