Is Bipolar Disorder Overdiagnosed?

This was a response for a question posed by the folks at The Comfort Compass.

"What do you think about this? Do you think there could be an over-diagnosis/mis-diagnosis of bipolar disorder or do you believe that this percentage is so high for those with bipolar disorder because individuals with bipolar disorder are more apt to seek help than anyone else with another diagnosis?"

I speak as a person with bipolar disorder. I do think there is a tendency for lawyers to use it as an excuse for bad behavior, as in, do you notice how nearly every one of these women who gets caught banging their underage students is "bipolar?" This actually makes me angry because I would never behave in such a reprehensible fashion. I think it makes those of us who struggle to make a decent life in spite of this disease have to fight all the harder to be taken seriously.

That being said, I believe in the general population, bipolar disorder is actually underdiagnosed or misdiagnosed as something else. Particularly, type II, which is what I have. I was misdiagnosed until the tender age of 38 as having "depression/anxiety" when what was really happening was I would have horrific depressions then cycle into hypomania and believe I was "recovered," only to spiral down into depression again.