Having my ex-wife in a joint session is what allowed my treatment team to gain the most accurate diagnosis. Before this time I had been hospitalized twice and diagnosed with clinical depression, without her insights on my behavior and shifts in mood when I wasn't fully depressed, I would not have received a proper diagnosis.
Honestly everyone stands to benefit from a psychiatric evaluation administered by a professional, verbalizing symptoms and patterns you reccognize is invaluable just by identifying and recognizing them. What you do with that evaluation is entirely subjective. Finding nonpartisan research of various treatment methods is quite elusive. The psychiatric pharmaceutical industry certainly needs to examined and reevaluated.
I would like to discuss the meds they commonly prescribe for this condition. Possibly here or on its own thread. In my experience the side-effects of the various medications available to me were far more detrimental to my physiological health than any symptoms exhibited by my condition. If I were to continue taking "the most commonly prescribed medication specifically formulated for Bipolar II treatment" distributed by Lilly commonly known as Symbyax, I would have a 75% likelihood of developing Type 2 Diabetes, as well as significant increased risk for: hypertension, heart disease, stroke, anneurisms, alzheimers, and a litany of other FATAL conditions.
Not to mention the unpleasant minor side effects that made life uncomfortable such as: restless leg syndrome, insatiable hunger, increased need for sleep (both in length and frequency), occasional insomnia, impaired ability to make logical connections, found it difficult to emote normally or "Prozac hypnosis" I have heard it called, sexual impotence, loss of libido, and also I fucking gained 25 pounds in 2 months (ectomorph who can't gain weight to save his life naturally)! The doctor SAID it was because of the overeating but when I did my own research found that part of chemical process of the drug is to drastically slow down the metabolism.
Also the generics for most of these drugs have a substantial drop off in effectiveness. The only real treatment I would consider viable long term is Lamatogrine aka an anti-convulsant by design that happens to treat Bipolar II pretty well. The downsides being that it is the relative new kid on the block and it has a magic pill persona. It is very expensive and that is unlikely to change due to its multi-faceted usage and relative age on the market.
EDIT: Oh ya, small caveat with the above, when introducing it into your system there is a decent chance of developing a fatal rash. Yup that's right a pill that can cause a rash that can kill you. Also if the levels of this drug fall below a certain level during the course of use, for instance you missed a pill or two on a consistent basis, then the rash can develop that way too.
All these drugs do is mitigate the symptoms, they don't stop them they just slow them down. Once they stop slowing down the symptoms then more medicine is prescribed or a different medicine is used. The "treatment" of this condition does nothing to actually treat the illness but rather mask the symptoms. Kind of a microcosm of western medicine.
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