This is a very interesting question as you would think it a rare occurrence. However, doubting a diagnosis of bipolar disorder is so common it even has a medical term. It is called anosognosia!

It strikes many people as shameful to have such a serious mental illness and the stigma around this illness is terrible.

I myself doubted my diagnosis for many years. I just couldn’t think of myself as having a serious mental illness. It seemed unthinkable. Looking back it is laughable, but once I went into the mental health clinic and asked my psychiatrist if I had a mental illness! He looked over his glasses and frowned at me.

How was this possible? I had had bipolar 1 disorder from the age of 15 many years before. I had taken many different medicine cocktails and even spent many months in the hospital. Yet, here I was in total denial of my illness. I had walked into a mental health clinic and asked a psychiatrist this amazing question. That shows you how possible it is to doubt your diagnosis.