[tsimionescu]

SSRIs are definitely not commonly recommended or normally used for treating bipolar disorder - especially not for people who are showing signs of a manic episode.

Unfortunately, this is one of the major limitations of our diagnosing abilities with mental illness: when someone presents with severe depressive symptoms and no other known history of mental illness, we have no real way of telling whether it should be classed as Major Depression, or whether it may be Bipolar disorder.

So, sadly, yours is a common story where people with bipolar disorder that initially manifests with a depressive episode get treated with SSRIs that then push them into their first manic episode. I've had a good friend go through something very similar (though, thankfully, less severe in terms of intensity of the manic episode).

If you were given SSRIs to handle the start of your manic episode, that to me seems like a gross mistake by your physician.