How do we tell people that we have the dreaded bipolar disorder? We all go through this with every one in our lives. It seems we are black listed because of the lack of knowledge and understanding that most people have of this disorder.
Do you tell them? Who should and can you tell? When is it a good time? There are no answers for those questions, only suggestions and trial by error. We have no control over other people's reactions, only a hope that our voice, combined with others, might start to break the stigma of mental disorders.
I've told some friends of my disorder soon after I met them, most didn't want to stick around. Then I thought I'd wait until they got to know me before I told them, still most had a hard time with it and they slowly removed themselves from my life. Even my family's reactions was interesting. Most of them have become more supportive now. I think the hardest reaction for me to deal with is when a friend finds out and doesn't pull away but you know they're looking at you differently. Is that a mercy friend or just some one who is trying there best to understand you while keeping that guard up, waiting for you to go crazy?
Yesterday I told an old friend of mine that I have bipolar disorder and briefly went into some other details of my life. He has been a friend for about 15 yrs but we didn't stay in touch for about 10 of those years because I moved away during that time.
I was trying to put off telling him as long as I could. The biggest fear was that I didn't want to lose this friendship, I had no idea how he'd react. In the past, people who I'd never imagine a bad reaction from, surprised me. It got to the point that not telling him would harm our relationship so I rolled the dice.
So far it's all good. :) There is a lot of effort that goes into worrying about what other people will think.
