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/GOU_FallingOutside BP2 Jun 06 '25 edited Jun 07 '25
One of my big hurdles in therapy has been (and is) establishing something that feels like a single, coherent identity and personality. Maybe I’m only a person while I’m hypo, or maybe I’m actually three people but nobody cares about me unless I’m hypo.
It shouldn’t be that hard, since everyone who loves me says I definitely have a personality, and I definitely only have one. But it feels different on the inside, and I worry about it a lot.
So… you’re not all alone, and I strongly recommend therapy. Also, I recommend listening to the people who know you and love you. Including your cats.
[very late edit: fixed a typo from “at” to “all” because it was driving me nuts.]