Being Bi-polar?

What does it mean to be diagnosed with Bi-polar? I here all the time ...."oh there is nothing wrong with her' "she just wants attention ' I have seen an lived with some-one who has this awful mind dis-function .When someone says to you things you know aren't going to happen , then you know something is wrong. Because maybe you know that person so very well .And they are living in a fantasy world . i did it for years , trying to pretend something im not, to Provoke more attention , so yes it is somewhat hard to tell what the problem really is? Its takes a great Doctor to really explain what really going on , but then you have o be he lab rat and take all the pharma pills? is there another way to help? to change? to be better?