It is mentioned in the book I am reading on Zelda Fitzgerald, that schizophrenics often have this duality going on- they want to reveal things about themselves, but almost at the same time, they/we want to conceal things about ourselves. Which do you prefer?
If youāre talking about the diagnosis itself, I used to be pretty open about it but Iām going to review my position, maybe be a little more subtle and discreet. Iām facing a total lack of empathy on Facebook, my friends on there ignore my postings for the most part, Iāll post an art piece Iāve spent 3 hours on and it will get 6 likes on this forum and zero on Facebook. Iām lucky if I get one like for my work there let alone a comment. People just avoid me there.
For the rest I really have nothing to hide anymoreā¦
Yeah, I donāt necessarily mean reveal about your illness, but just things about YOU, that you might want to share as a way of emptying yourself of yourself, you know?
By the way, Iām an artist too, and I sent mine out thru text pics and almost always get a reply from my friends and family.
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Well things have been ā ā ā ā ā ā in half in my brain. Iām on the return. In my duality, they either know everything about me, or they know nothing.
Iāve talked about all of it before a few times with a few people. Didnāt really effect anything. But it wasnāt really worth it either.
I prefer to keep it all to myself at this point.
What about on here? How often to reveal major things about yourself?
Over the course of being a member im pretty sure Iāve spelled out all the gritty details.
Do you wish you hadnāt?
Not at all. I did take my real name of the site even though there are probably traces of it around. This was the only measure of protection needed.
Yeah, I think I have filters, or donāt let everything out to a certain extent, I guess women are the ones who say you need to purge every now and then of all that baggage.
I just wanted to explain my illness. So others knew what I was going through. Helps me feel in company. Fellow sufferers even respect it. Even when non sz offer me a pat on the back for surviving, it doesnāt count as much, they have no idea what itās really like. A day of this ā ā ā ā , thatās fine, gives them a window, they would probably thank god when it was over, but to go through it for years, to have your reality severely contorted. My best attempts at logic can barely keep me together. Thatās where the reality of the illness sets in. Itās not a just an illness, itās a totally different life.
I know itās hard to do, but try to remember that everybody is suffering from something.
concealā¦under a black sith cloak ( cloak is optional !? )
take care 
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SoltGoes, the one thing I know for sure is that I want to be a writer/artist, but if I think I donāt need to buy other peopleās work, or support them as artists, how can I expect them to do the same for me?
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Anything you say can and will be used against you ā¦
Keep your cards close, no one needs to know until they have been properly vetted.
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Conceal, although I wish I could reveal more often. Itās very hard to be āoutā when you have a white-collar job.
Itās like that song from Frozen that everyoneās probably tired of, āconceal donāt feel donāt let them knowā¦ well now they knowā¦ Let it go.ā
This is an aspect of social psychology, particularly stigma. Concealable stigma has been showed in a study to be bad for oneās well-being. What happens is that when someone represses and conceals their distressing, stigmatizing condition that it ābottles upā in normal people language, it is like telling yourself to try your hardest not to think of a pink elephant- you get the rebound effect and end up thinking even more about pink elephants
Itās sometimes best to get it off your chest!
disengagement basically means expecting the worst and being far from the disposition of giving any ā ā ā ā ā about it. Itās like how I know that people will stereotype me when they hear that I am schizophrenic. I am ready for ignorance. Luckily, I am from an educated family, my maternal side doesnt judge, and my occupation is āhonors psychology studentā so I am working mostly with graduate students on a thesis. Iām deep into research and going along just fine as of now. I am making progress at the correct rate and learning how to best approach the project- it is graduate level work, thats why its called āhonors senior thesisā, but it is within my capability- I am doing just fine with it and my GRE score was above average, I am pretty smart.
Itās your decision, but I feel much better letting it be known and not living a lie. I sometimes do strange things like pop pills, drink lots of caffeine, smoke cigarettes, itās all schizophrenia stuff. Maybe a clinical student would figure it out if they worked next to me in the lab, with my rattling pillbox in my pocket, my cigarette habit and my sometimes unclear speech and slightly impaired short term memory.
Iāve learned whatever I say it changes nothing.
If I feel like talking about it I just think back to the times Iāve spoken before.
I really do hope that this is all in my head, but it doesnāt seem that way from my perspective.
Feeling a bit down today.
To me, revealing too much is like when you read the sign on the fire extinguisher boxā¦ āBreak glass in case of emergencyā. And that is an analogy why we do this at times, and knowing only really bad people will make an issue out of it. And when ever I read something too revealing of another I will understand and try not to take too much notice of It and may be reply in and understanding way too reassure them they are not alone. After they understand that they have embarrassed themselves enough they will try and replace the broken glass on that fire extinguisher box. Try not to notice when you come across someone you know is having this kind of problem wherever you may come across them. That is the kindest thing we can do for them as strangers.
Thatās the most ā ā ā ā ā ā up convoluted thing I ever tried to decipher.
If you are talking to me I can explain that whenever I read something it sets my mind off into what seems to be a train of thought that actually may or may not have much at all to do with what the original thread is implying or asking us. Itās just a bad habit I have of interrupting others before I forget what it was I wanted to write. Hey Iām not well OK? Thatās why Iām here a lot of the time.