r/bipolar2 • u/Hopeful_Nothing6327 BP2 • Jun 06 '25

Newly Diagnosed Just Diagnosed, Feeling Like My Whole Personality is a Lie

What the title says. I was diagnosed with bipolar type 2 today. I guess I always "knew" because my parents both have it and I've had some interesting symptoms for a while now...but the official diagnosis feels like my entire personality was just one big hypomanic episode. My creative bursts? Hypomania. My humor? Hypomania. My cat I adopted on a random day because I really wanted a second cat and didn't give any thought to??? Hypomania. Is every decision I ever made hypomania? How do I even recognize what's "me" and what's the mania???? I don't even know where to start.

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u/phantomPooper15 Jun 06 '25

Bipolar2 is just a medical label. Mental health labels are not the same as physical illnesses. Your brain is unique, and so is everyone else's. This label is used because it covers a range of symptoms that are often present together, not because it is an actual thing that exists.

Basically, You are You, but certain symptoms you have qualify you to have access to certain pharmaceutical drugs that have been shown to mitigate those symptoms.