I tell anybody if it becomes a relevant topic to the conversation but I don’t think it really helps anything because I end up sometimes getting frustrated enough to punch them in the face later when they say things that imply nothing is wrong with me despite I know for a fact a lot of the things I experience, say or do are not supposed to happen.
I tell everyone. I probably shouldn’t.
I found it helps you quickly find out when you first meet a person whether they’re worth being friends with because if they react badly to it then they’re obviously a judgmental ass.
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This is very true. Luckily I’ve never had any friends abandon me. But there have been some who were extremely ignorant about what schizophrenia was. “What’s that?” one girl said. “Isn’t that when you hear voices that tell you to do bad things” said the other girl. That other girl is now much more knowledgeable and was able to relate with me now after her brothers developed mental health issues.
I don’t have a problem with people who are ignorant but are willing to overcome it. I get really angry at the people who are ignorant and outright refuse to change. Most of the time we’d all be better off if they just were dead because I have notable examples in reserve where ignorant people fought hard to get their way that I don’t even know and now I got harmed by it in the process.
Telling people can be risky. I’ve had good experiences and some bad ones and no matter how I think they might react I’m always nervous to tell someone. Bad experience: Someone told me that people like me should have to wear arm-bands like the Jews in WWII so people know I’m a freak. Good experience: Telling someone and they said they didn’t know much about it but that they still wanted to be around me (I ended up marrying this man and he tries so very hard to understand even though there are things he will never be able to understand). Most of the time people just have curious questions and even then I’m cautious to give too much information because sometimes I’m still battling with is it a setup or is it genuine. I used to worry how it would affect my children if their friends, etc found out but I have been given a great honor in that my youngest son actually has no shame in me and even talks about how hard I try and how he thinks I’m the best mom on the planet. People can be so unpredictable and we’re the “crazy” ones lol.
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I want to tell everyone, but I don’t. I’ve told only three people at work, and I’d like everyone to know. I’m worried though that it only takes one wrong person knowing to lose my job. Some of my family knows, but no one in my husband’s family knows. I am afraid of being thought of negatively just because of sz.