What to tell friends

Two days ago I was discharged from inpatient for schizoaffective disorder. I now have to go back to school and I’m worrying about what to tell my friends.

I know I’m going to tell my close friends what happened but I don’t know what I’m going to tell my other friends and acquaintances. There’s no way to avoid not telling people. Everyone knows that I was gone for 2 weeks. I go to a small(ish) high school so people will have obviously know I was missing for so long. So what I need help with is excuses for what happened to tell distant friends why I was missing from school for such a long period of time. I want to avoid telling them I was in the psych hospital if possible because I treacly don’t want to have to explain why.

Do any of you by chance have any suggestions for what to say or any advice if you’ve been through a similar experience? Any answers or stories are welcome

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personally i would say i went to the distant moon of ’ cly 7 ’ :first_quarter_moon:
but just say you were having a break…which in a way you were.
know some one cares :heart:
take care :alien:

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The distant moon of cly 7 sounds like the best answer I’ve got right now

And thank you for caring. It’s always nice to hear someone does, even if it’s someone you’ve never met😊

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Definitely do not tell anyone. High schoolers live off the tears of making fun of others. They can’t help but gossip.

I would let my close friends know so they can be a support. Other people I would just tell a white lie and say you were in the hospital for a while for whatever you want to say. People treat you different when you tell them you have the illness. If you want to earn things and get through school on you own merit I would not tell these other people.

I had the same predicament when I was in high school. When it came to telling acquaintances and non-close friends, I just said I had a family emergency and had to go out of town. People usually understand that and stop asking questions from there. I know it’s a little extreme for a lie, but trust me it’s better than having people you’re not close to knowing you’re in a psych hospital. High school can be a cruel place, and you don’t want everyone knowing something that personal about you. It definitely helped me in the long run.

I would slowly take out my sunglasses, put them on in front of them and say, “I didn’t feel like coming in, so I blew it off for a couple of weeks. Miss me?” :sunglasses:

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This is actually good advice. Try to be pretty nonchalant about it when people ask. No need to get all serious and explain all that happened to you to everyone who asks. It’s not their business, so why tell them ya’ know?

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The best advice I’ve heard on the forum is to say you were dealing with some health issues. If they pry, say you’d rather not talk about it. You have a right (if you want it) to your privacy whether it’s about a hysterectomy, cancer, schizophrenia or whatever.

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What do you hope to gain by telling the truth about where you have been?

Really close friends don’t need to be told,
and
all others,
don’t need to be told either,
but for different reasons.

Be cautious when revealing the truth with people, especially those you consider close friends…
sometimes they don’t mean to betray you, but it’s hard to think about what actions will affect a person long term when their so young.

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Ya no body needs to hear your personal issues. They don’t feed you, buy you clothes, they are not blood related( and I don’t even tell my relatives ), and are not in an intimate relationship with you.

It’s your choice.

It all depends on how dangerous people think you are.

I’m researching the ■■■■ out of stigma. They mainly care about how dangerous you are. They also care a bit about how you make them feel as in their mood, and then they care about how much they have to do with you.

But if you aren’t dangerous it’s not really going to make them care that much. They will just say that there is medicine for everything.

I know this crap. I live it and I study it in school.

Seriously, the dumbest people said they thought I would kill them in their sleep. The average said there’s medicine for it. The smartest assumed I was on medicine and asked me how I was doing.

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I’m sorry your in this predicament, especially in high school. I also went to a small high school (300) and after my suicide attempt (car crash) even though I never saw any of them again except a few friends, everyone thought at first I was drunk driving then either my friends told them or they just figured out. Probably think I was just some looney who needed to be locked up which really hurts. I wasn’t close to a lot of them except my 5 close friends but I felt like I had a place there like I belonged and perhaps even people cared about me. They definitely have forgotten but anyway if I ever do come up it’ll probably be in a negative light. I’m sorry if thats not helpful and even intimidating just wanted to vent for a second. If you do come out about it to people, my advice is to be mature and if anyone gives you flack then don’t feed the fire with ■■■■ you’s. Just be like “yea I have something that I can’t help and am trying to work on and if you want to give me ■■■■ for it thats your own problem.” Don’t do what I did and keep feeding them paranoia. I mean I was in a really really bad place at the time but I definitely could have handled my situation more calmly and maturely.

I was away from my work for two years. People asked and were curious when I came back a few hours to start with. I have told everyone "I have been exhausted. That lead to a depression. But now I’m back in my own pace. " that usually stops more questions from coming.

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I recieved so many more responses than I thought I would’ve thank you to all! :blush:

I was extremely reclusive when I was diagnosed. My friends only learned about my diagnosis through the internet - as I shared it on Facebook. I don’t have many friends, though, and the friends that I still have from highschool are all starting families or are in new states or cities with their lives.

Basically, my only friends are “internet friends” now. Once they were in-person & real, but that has all changed. That’s okay with me, though. I enjoy being a recluse. Since I have main-stay characters in my mind’s peripheral, too, from my having SZ, I don’t really feel alone ever anyways…