Leading up to my diagnosis was beautiful and intense. I was manic for almost a year before my diagnosis. I pieced a timeline together with old Facebook posts and pictures and texts to help pinpoint when my episodes started. My episode started when I began working 60-hour weeks to be out of my dark apartment and drinking a fifth of alcohol a day to try and balance life. I was delusional and hallucinating. Both my delusion and hallucinations were in overdrive and were at times mesmerizing.