For some reason I feel very comfortable in BP even though I only suffer Depression.

I think because I have some close BP friends so I know their experience, and from spending so much time in therapy with other BP people I recognize the similarities and the differences. There is a friend I made in group a long time ago, who is BP, but her depressive episodes are described identically to mine and we help each other out with that a lot.

Also in general I feel confident about my advise because I try never to tell people what to do but rather share my thoughts and feelings on the subject. My thought is that even someone suffering the same illness as me won't necessarily respond to the same treatment or advice. But hearing my viewpoint can give them something to think about and decide if it is something that applies to them or not. I try to never make my advice sound "preachy" or "know-it-all" and I hope I succeed at that.

I know that is a touchy subject here as all of us can be very sensitive to posting and being afraid of posting something "wrong". I think it is very good that people can feel safe to post here at their own level of comfort, and I think it is good that we have so many members at all comfort levels... it helps ensure (even if it is not perfect) that everyone gets some level of support, from those comfortable sharing their ideas, from those comfortable sharing hugs, from those comfortable sharing friendship, for those who don't like to post but feel comfortable with PM's, for those only comfortable in chat...

Of course then the reverse can become true... if the only people who happen to be "touched" by a thread are those that only feel comfortable in a PM, then the poster may feel bad that they didn't get many replies. It is important to remember that there are many reasons for different types of replies, but our depression makes us think there is only one reason... and the most unlikely one at that... that we have somehow posted "wrong" or that no one cares about us.

Such is the nature of the beast but together we can help overcome that as much as possible.