i admit it ..cuz im not ashamed..like i woildnt be ashamed to be like i have cancer or diabetes..im sick...whether its bp or eating disorder or anxiety...my brain is always at war and i express that cuz most of the time im uncomfortable and cranky lol

Its hard to admit to myself let alone to anyone else

Took me ages to admit it to myself....I thought it was everyone else who was mad......after 10 admissions to funny farm i eventually realised that i did have bp.

I used to tell everybody about it, but now i'm very selective to whom i tell.....it does carry a huge stigma and pple tend to treat you differently.

I share it with a select few, but I don't broadcast it. Those I tell are usually shocked when I tell them :-).

If I am asked I will tell but I don't go around offereing the info. It's just like a diabetic. They will admit they have it but don't go around telling everybody abou their illness. To me, it's no one's business.

For me it depends on the situation. I usually don't tell people as it tends to make "normal" people uncomfortable. But if I feel someone can benefit from knowing that I have BP I will tell them. Also I am pretty open with everyone on the different boards I am member of. But I don't just offer it up like candy.

My mom on the other hand, tells everyone she comes in contact with that she had a bipolar daughter. She is just trying to get sympathy points. It really ticks me off when she does this because it is my business as to tell or not to tell.

Jenna

This is such an interesting topic. I have only told my best friend and lectures at uni that I have bipolar disorder. I have many close friends that don't know it. Bipolar played a big part of my life and I was hospitaized for 4.1 months last year and didn't tell anyone else. I think there is still so much stigma out there towards mental illness.

unfortunately since i was hospitalized in october most of my friends and family know im "off". ive only told my closest that im bp

only family and really close old friends, like 2 of them. i lost a best friend over it. she wouldnt admit it, because i wasnt like her chronically suicidal bp friend so how could i have it?

learned my lesson about telling employers, mums on that now.

i dont think i will ever tell someone i date again either.. not until its to "move in" time. before that its pointless to say anything. unless you are around another bp, people just dont get it..

What is there to admit, Its just another form of illiness, If someone ask, I tell them, depending on who it is. At work, I'll keep it to myself, I only told two ppl at my last job, The first was bipolar too, and understood, the second pretended to understand and then told the entire office. So I learned my lesson there.

I used to hide because in my area the stigma is horrid, ppl with only mild depression even hide it from their spouses if at all possible.

But after years of this, I know that "I" have bipolar, but bipolar doesn't "define" who I am. So now I admit it and I hold my head up when I do. If people don't "like" it or want to "judge" me, it is their problem, not mine.

I didn't tell anyone really at first. My siblings had been diagnosed before me, and I saw how they were treated differently. Once the symptoms started with me, I had an idea what road I was headed down and I wasn't ashamed, but I didn't want to be judged.

A few years ago I decided that I've got nothing to hide, I don't go around announcing it to everyone. I did want more people to be educated about mental illness in general. I went out and got a tattoo of a green ribbon (mental health awareness, I'm sure you all knew that).

Now, If anyone wants to get to know me, I kind of have to tell them. My memory is so horrible that I need to let them know not to be offended when I forget something b/c it's due to the ECT for my BP. Combine that with my green ribbon (which obviously leads to questions) and trying to answer "what do you do for work?" without sounding like a complete bum. AND, if someone is going to decide they don't want to talk to me b/c I have BP, I'd rather they stop talking to me before it would hurt my feelings.

I dmit it due to the fact its too much effort to hide it

Only close personal friends know, anyone else, it's none of their business, as everyone probably already experienced this, you are treated differently for the huge stigma it holds....

i dont admitt right away because i dont want the relationship to be about that i think that the thoughts should be about things that are normal not not about being ill