It's not the first thing I bring up.

But if a conversation kinda goes in that direction, I will bring up the fact that I am bipolar.

Lots of people Do Not agree with this kind of self exposure.

But for me , coming out of the "Mental Illness" closet, has helped me to feel LESS stigmatized .

I OWN my bipolar

Yea there was this one girl I talked to that said she don't tell anyone but her family. So even her real close friends don't even know. I don't know how you could hide it for to long.

I always compare it to hemorrhoids - how many strangers would you tell you have a pain in your ass? Would they even want to know? LOL

So, if I don't know you well enough to discuss my ass, then you don't need my medical report either! : )

OMG..Gina I'm laughing my ass off...I never thought of it that way !
HAHAHAHHAAHA

doesn't hurt to hold it back at times. I mean, when you meet people they don't usually tend to say 'hey I have a colostomy bag' when they are introducing themselves? Or whatever.

I like that DD views it as educating the public etc demystifying it all- that's cool.

I'd suggest though that the same thing can be achieved by first becoming familiar with someone & then telling them- I've done this with lots of my friends. Avoid preconceived notions, dispel stigma in it's own way x

yeah- what gina said x

i never just come out with it..most time i only share if im going thru a super nutty phase n they notice im acting weird or if they share that they have some kinda of mental illness too..otherwise no need to tell n have them look at me funny all the time cuz of it

Gina--I absolutely love "the hemorrhoid test"! Haha!

I'm like you dd, though, with how I usually feel when I tell people. Telling the people I trust and having them respond well helps me feel less like a freak. Though once or twice I've wished I hadn't shared, it's worth it to have a few people who know and support me.

Oh, fiddle-dee-dee!!!
It's just one more fact about me!!!
It's not huge deal to tell someone I have it.
(THEY may have trouble with it, but *I* don't!!!)

Except in a workplace setting.
Never, never, never, never, never again will I tell anyone if it's at work and there's any chance that everyone knowing about it will jeopardize my job!!!

I did that at my last job.
Now I don't have my last job.

The coworkers were just fine, but the company didn't want to risk having a possibly problematic and/or unreliable employee!!

I wondered if/when to tell someone that I had just started dating. I ended up revealing my illness after about a month, so she could make an informed decision about wanting to continue to date me. Thankfully we are still together 7 months later. But I would not tell her about a hemorrhoid if I had one!

Gina's response had me laughing til I nearly choked!!

I am more like dd though, open and owning my bipolar. Though I struggle with the whole dating thing with honesty. Maybe that's why most of my relationships have been casual/sexual in nature, rather than deep and lasting? Bipolar/hypersexual = my past to a tee.

I liked Naphappy's comment.

unless your interviewing someone to be 1 of your support group assistane, why would you provide your medical record w others who are not your medical providers nor EMS. What do you want from your freinds family co workers ... to do w info,lol, do you want them to go to college n become P-Dr P-Nurse, so they understand illness...,w/o you trying to edu people :I

i told some one i was starting to date that i am bp, it was fine until i need to explain why i act the way i do, try to explain to some one who is clue less of this what it is all about when you are having a manic episode............explosive to say the least. some time it is good and some time it is not, i think it depends on the relationship between two persons

I agree with dd as well it's not the first thing I come out with but I am open about it and my main reason is stopping the stigma