Your Diagnosis Stories
In 2022, a survey by the Bipolar Commission found that, on average, it takes 9.8 years for someone living in Scotland to receive a correct diagnosis of bipolar, from that time that they first present to a health care professional with symptoms.Â
At Bipolar Scotland, we don’t think that’s acceptable. As the first stage in our plan to tackle this problem, we invited our members, and anyone across Scotland living with bipolar, to share their stories of diagnosis through our website portal. Taken together, these stories are a damning indictment on the current system and an urgent call for much-needed further training for our primary care providers. Read individually, they are searingly honest stories of what it’s really like to live with bipolar, both before and after diagnosis.Â
All of these stories were provided through our website or given to Bipolar Scotland staff members, and are displayed here with the person’s permission. They have been proof read and edited lightly for typos but the stories have not been altered. A * indicates that the writer is using a pseudonym.
