My name is Sharon and I am a 57 year old Female.

I have recently been diagnosed as Bipolar II and come from a family with lots of problems such as schizoaffective disorder, depression, alcoholism, etc. I am willing to exchange email with whoever writes. I am 57 years old and female. I am Canadian and live in British Columbia. I have peer counseling skills and spent many years on a crisis line. I work with one very difficult teen as a therapeutic foster parent and often have quite a bit of spare time.

I was rather relieved to have the diagnosis because I knew there was a problem and was tired of feeling guilty about not achieving, not being perfect, etc. Now I have an excuse! -- no, not an excuse, but a reason. At the same time, I was a little shocked and depressed because being bipolar is a life long, serious, mental illness. I tend to go up and down throughout the day, my manic phases are fun but tiring and my depressions [except for one big one, years ago] are fairly mild. I have always felt normal compared to my crazy relatives. I am just starting treatment and have not noticed any differences yet.

My email is: teambarbara@hotmail.com