If you have a mental illness, do you openly talk about it with friends and family?

Question

I am bipolar and I never know who I can tell. I'm afraid of what they will think.

Answer 1

IF YOU HAVE TO BE WORRIED ABOUT WHAT THEY WILL THINK...well then think about who they are and the mistakes they have made...Bipolar is a chemical imbalance, chances are these people that you are worried about just made stupid choices. Bipolar is NOT A CHOICE.
I share it with anyone who needs a friend. I have gone to jails, talke to kids in recovery, and spoken with people who will never undrstand. I DON'T CARE,,,,people who judge are ususally suffering from their own problems. There is no longer a stigma to BiPolar, or any other mental illness. You have don the bravest thing that can be done YOU HAVE ADMITTED IT. Now move forward and the best therapy is helping and talking to others. You take care and understand NO MATTER WHAT anybody else has to say, you are doing great you are dealing with it.

Answer 2

Coming from someone who has lived with being bipolar my whole life...I think the best thing you can do is educate yourself. Understand this illness. And then tell the people you are comfortable telling, the people closest to you. It's not like bp is a subtle thing, those closest to you probably are aware that something is up. I think it's worth a shot to give people a chance to be there for you.
Personally I am very open about the bipolar part of my psych issues. (I tend to keep the personality disorder part more private just because it sounds so bad and the stigma is greater.) I am not uncomfortable talking about it and appreciate the chance to enlighten people that simply don't know or understand quite what it is. If I feel that someone can not be supportive of me, I just don't talk about it to them any further.
Don't be afraid to be who you are. There are positives to being bipolar; along with weaknesses others don't have are strengths as well. It is an illness, not a character flaw.

Answer 3

We battle mental illness in this family every day. Anyone who knows anyone who is autistic or epileptic or ADHD, migrain headaches etc. has been in your place before.
I maybe a little older then you and I have been in your place. I am at the point of not caring to much about what other people think. Who are they for me to give them control of how I feel?
The more people know and understand all the mental illness's out there the more people will understand each other.
Mental illness is not something people choose. Ignorant people out there if they do have mean nasty things to say (Lord knows I have herd quite a lot of these comments) just remind these people that some forms of mental illness's do not form until later in life. The president of the united states Ronald Reagan had altimers. This is a form of mental illness. So you see it does not pick and choose who it will visit, it treats everyone the same.
If the subject comes up do not be afraid! Remember too that mental illness's run in biological family's. You have it, more then likely someone in your family has it too.
Have a great day!

Answer 4

When I was diagnosed with bipolar it was hard on every one because my family didn't understand exactly what I was going through. Now though a few of my family members understand alittle bit better. I understand that your afraid of what people will think and say about you. If they say anything it's probably because they don't understand everything about the illness. You have to remind yourself that being bipolar is an illness. It's not like you woke up one morning and said to yourself that you wanted to have bipolar. It's nothing that you can control. The only thing about this illness that you can control is taking your meds. Please this is just a helpful tip: Don't stop taking your meds because one day you decide that your feeling better and that you don't need the meds anymore. That's a big mistake. I've done it and it's caused be set backs. Good luck to you and your family. I hope I was able to help you in some way.

Answer 5

It's a difficult question to answer and depends what your living situation is, if your in a small town most likely everyone will know what you have BiPolar so at that point there's no sense hidding it, but if your in a city where your have privacy then I would only tell the people that you are close to, if they are real friends that care about you they will understand and will want to help you, those who think your crazy and bail on you were never your friends to begin with. Good luck to you.

Answer 6

Hey, I don't hide my bipolar disorder. Everyone I know knows about it. They mostly even help me when I start having problems by nicely pointing out that I getting angry or that I am depressed or in an hypo-manic phase. The guys at work have really been great. Of course they knew me before treatment so it was hard to hide it from them.

Terry

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Answer 7

There is a saying, " A secret kept is a secret controlled a secret told is a secret that controls." I'm sure I am not quoting that quite right but I hope you get the drift. I think it is easier for you to control your illness if you keep it to yourself, then you do not have to concern yourself with un-necessary judgment from people who simply have no idea what you are going through. IF you need understanding because you find yourself having problems that your friends notice...simply tell them if you are my friend, please, be understand and forgive me. I meant no harm or what ever. Some times I get off in left field. Or something like that.

Answer 8

Jennifer you cant tell friends and family more than what they know. You will be able to identify the bipolar by the vein on the hand. Use it also know they only speak one vocabulary. Your best friends will have to be outsiders from now on.

Answer 9

Being bi-polar is an illness the same as high blood pressure or diabetes. There should be no reason to be in any way ashamed of it. Unfortunately, our world is full of small minded and uneducated people who will treat you badly due to somethng you have no control over. The best thing you can do is to keep it to yourself unless you trust the person or they have a reason to know about it. Not because you have anything to be ashamed of but because it really isn't any of their business. A close friend or a counselor should be told but they are usually going to support you. It's a tough thing to deal with and unnecessarry stupidity from people who know nothing about it isn't going to help you.

Best of luck to you

Answer 10

I have bi polar and if you are around people long enough they will be able to see the mood swings. I would tell those close to me so they can be aware of issues like suicide, etc. Most people won't understand and won't try to understand..However, your TRUE friends will stick by you no matter what. I have had "so called friends" who tell me that there is no such thing as that and that you can snap out of depression..Those are NOT true friends. In time you will learn who you can talk to and who you can't and who your REAL friends are. It's not something you casually talk about in conversation but like I said you will know when the right time is.