Talk or Keep Quiet About Mental Illness?
By angel_smiles
@Lolaze (5092)
St. Louis, Missouri
April 26, 2016 9:02pm CST
I'm currently having quite an argument with someone on Facebook. We both suffer from mental illness and he thinks I'm in the wrong for being open about mine. He is of the theory that you tell no one but your doctors and therapist, or it will come back to hurt you. We have been going back and forth about this for weeks. He just won't respect my opinion and leave me alone, but that is beside the point.
I believe that sharing I have a mental illness is helping to end the stigma surrounding mental illness in general. If someone is afraid of me or cuts me out of their life when they find out, well then they weren't worth having a spot in my life anyway. I recently decided to make a post titled Dear Family Members on Facebook, addressed to the family members I'm friends with on there. I explained that I have bipolar disorder and had been hospitalized 4 times in a year. The outpouring of support I received was amazing. People whom I never expected a response from stepped up and told me how much they supported me! It also opened up a chance at renewing connections that had been closed for years due to family issues. I've yet to have it backfire on me at all.
What do you believe? Should people with mental illness speak out about their issues? Or should they keep it to themselves and a select few they are closest to?
5 people like this
6 responses
@irishidid (8687)
• United States
27 Apr 16
I'm all for it for the simple reason that someone may have information and resources you weren't aware of. When my middle child showed signs of what we later found out was autism, people we knew who had similar issues with their child was able to guide us toward some good resources.
3 people like this
@yukimori (10193)
• United States
27 Apr 16
I agree with you. The stigma surrounding mental illnesses is awful, and based on my own experiences with them I can't help but want to talk about it. So many people try to deal with them on their own, but getting appropriate professional help (through therapy or medication) can work wonders.
I want moms who are suffering from postpartum depression and anxiety to know that they're not alone, that they're not horrible people because having a baby isn't all the sunshine and rainbows and joy that society portrays it as.
Really, I just want people to start realizing that mental illness really isn't that much different than physical illnesses. Having one doesn't mean that a person is crazy, or automatically dangerous. It's not less real because it's something that can't be seen, and it damn sure isn't something that the person with the illness is choosing to do.
I think that's the part that infuriates me more than anything, to be honest. My parents were a huge contributing factor in my issues, and their "just stop behaving like this" attitude didn't help anything.
2 people like this
@GardenGerty (169439)
• United States
27 Apr 16
Since I am a blabbermouth I would say keep on talking, keep on opening closed minds. A fairly new friend of mine just recently put herself in hospital. She does not have a lot of family. She has recently talked with the church about her mental illness because that is family to us. She is struggling right now, but she is not the first friend I have had who has a mental illness.
1 person likes this
@AmbiePam (120617)
• United States
27 Apr 16
I think they should do whatever makes them most comfortable. If we're open about it I think it's a great opportunity to keep from having misunderstandings, but also for people to have a chance at building a community of support.
I'm bipolar type two. I struggle with the depressive end of the spectrum. I've been told I'm a "soft" bipolar. My family knows. My cousins probably don't, but that's because my dad was the 15th of 16 children. I have too many cousins, and since we aren't close I've never shared that. But all of my friends are aware. I'm not sure when you bring it up to a guy, but I guess I'd play it by ear.
You are true to yourself and that's a great way to end the stigma of mental illness. 
We shouldn't have to fear being transparent.
We shouldn't have to fear being transparent.
@antonbunot (11146)
• Calgary, Alberta
27 Apr 16
Well, I believe that every one gets crazy once in a while. If being funny and not growing up (that is what we have in common) is a sign of moderate mental illness, I suffer from mental illness then!
@Macarrosel (7498)
• Philippines
27 Apr 16
I'm a shy person, so I prefer not to talk my illnesses to other people aside from my family and closed relatives. Well, you gained good responses in telling your sickness to other people and that's great.
1 person likes this
