I Was Told I Had Depression for 14 Years Until I Got Sectioned - It Was Bipolar
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Kimberley Atkinson was told she had depression but she was later diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
"My mood had always been up and down, and my emotional regulation was never very good," says Kimberley.
For 14 years, assuming her symptoms were merely depression, until her behavior suddenly changed drastically. She began experiencing:
- Eratic thinking
- Delusions
- Speeding speech
- Irritability
One night, while studying for a PhD, she drove to London convinced she was the only person who could save someone. She also believed her moods were causing bad weather. Concerned friends and family had her sectioned against her will into a psychiatric ward.
Doctors finally realized she had bipolar disorder—a misdiagnosis that studies suggest is not uncommon, with some research indicating as many as one in five people with severe/recurrent depression might actually have bipolar.
"It was a relief to be diagnosed with bipolar," says Kimberley.
Experts advocate for improved "screening" by healthcare professionals, such as inquiring about symptoms of mania and family history of the condition. They believe better screening could be "life-saving" as medication for depression can often make people with bipolar sicker.
During her three-month stay in hospital, psychiatrists evaluated Kimberley beyond her depression for the first time. Initially reluctant to accept her bipolar diagnosis, years of symptoms eventually made sense to her.
"Whereas now I'm stable, which is in large part due to medication," she says.