My partner has always treated me the same she is just aware that I’m sensitive to outside influences like her parents and they put alot of pressure on me.
My inlaws dismiss a lot of my behaviors as just me being lazy or something.
My sister in law told her kids that I have a mental illness so they understand and aren’t scared of me
Yeah During the Chinese New Year, my relatives insulted me
I’m pretty open. I blast it on Facebook!
Only my cat knows. 
He’s cool with it.
I don’t tell people not because of fear but I don’t feel the need to tell.
We should do what the LGBT community did. A guy named Harvey Milk advocated for all LGBT to be open with their sexuality. That openness led to more acceptance. If we were all open with our illness it would eradicate stigma from our society. If people knew their family, friends, co-workers, classmates etc. were SZ it wouldn’t be some fringe illness that nobody knows about. People would learn to accept it and realize sz folks are not that different from them. That at the end of the day we have an illness that is really not that much different than a physical one.
I understand that it is a very personal decision. It’s just that I have heard so many SZ here and everywhere complain about stigma. Being open is a concrete action we all could take to work to eliminate stigma.
I don’t tell a soul. Only my family and my best friend knows. My best friend has the same illness that I do, so, she’s safe. My family doesn’t believe I have an illness, not really, so they’re safe too.
Not counting family, medical practitioners, and ex girlfriends, I’ve disclosed to three people. There just aren’t a lot of opportunities to say hey, by the way, i’m… i keep my business on lock down. if somebody asks, i tell them i’m bi-polar, which is true, i’m sza. i’m a big believer in boundaries and not disclosing puts myself and everyone else in a better position… i think.
I have very little contact with people in real life. But my friend I made last semester knows, he has multiple sclerosis. And we text and talk about our illnesses. Then there was a girl I met in Arabic 1 who I was kind of friends with but I never told her though she could obviously tell something was not right. She gave me her email to contact her but I haven’t gotten back to her out of pure trepidation and also laziness. If she knew she would probably think I’m a loser and not want to be friends with me.
Do you work? Just wondering how well that would go over at work. If so what do you do.
@5713 i work at Kfc and go to nurse school. It’s hard somethimes but i manage it prety well
It depends. It pays to be mousy and just tell who you need to tell!
Work and friends can become problematic. I’ve used the …I have a weird genetic disorder…it’s gotten me out of trouble a couple of times before…and it’s not really telling untruths. It’s being practical!
I’d recommend you be practical. Tell people where you think it’s ok or you get an advantage! Otherwise don’t tell because advantage is limited in a lot of places!
I’m more out than in!
Ideally I would be extremely open about it. I am for the most part. I like to casually mention my struggles with MI to people around me so maybe it’ll seem like less of a big deal.
I have a hard time telling relatives other than my immediate family. I worry that older people would be less accepting of my illness.
In my experience young people are very supportive and sympathic about MI. Older people are more likely to be like ‘suck it up buttercup, it’s all in your head’ etc etc.
I also don’t like telling people who come across as bitchy or judgemental. In the past I’ve told the wrong people about my struggles to have them gossip about it to anyone that’ll listen.
I’ve heard a million times that the effects of stigma can be worse than the disease itself. Nothing was worse for me than the first two years of my disease. So the pain of stigma must be incomprehensible. So no, I am not open with my illness.
No, every time I did they used it against me. 
I’ve been open at every job. I usually tell them about a month or so after I start, because it gives me a chance to prove I’m a good employee. By then, nobody cares if I have an illness. It’s never caused me problems. I worked in behavioral therapy and at a hardware store. Now, I work as a mental health advocate. Having an MI is actually beneficial there, because it helps me relate better to my clients.
I don’t tell people outside my inner circle. However I was just at the ER and of course they asked what all the meds were for. Uhh, decision time, do I say just depression or sza??? I ended up just saying depression and anxiety. So as long as they knew what meds I was taking I suppose it didn’t really matter.
I waited a couple of years to tell my PCP about my hospitalizations and dx because I was worried I wouldn’t get regular treatment after disclosing. She was shocked and pissed she didn’t know sooner. Well… if the hospitals aren’t communicating with her… what am I supposed to do. Its all sorted out now and I’ve given permissions for all my dr’s to communicate with one another.
Hey @77nick77! how are you today?
Its really the thought of stigma that gets me. But I have experienced nothing IRL. I get caught up in the what’s going to happen or might or should happen. I suppose this is more self-stigma than outer world stigma I’ve experienced.
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