Polly,

What you said is of such comfort to me... I have very supportive parents and the friends that do know have been supportive so far...I'm still a bit sensitive about it all, even after telling three close friends (and amazingly, they are still around!), I'm afraid they will use my illness against me...how weird is that! I need to work on being more grateful of the support I do have in my life. I thought that with time it would be easier, but I find it even harder to trust after my diagnosis. Once friends know your "weakness", how do you know they won't exploit it or treat you differently? It's just a feeling I've been having lately about two of my friends who do know...they say they'll support me but I've been getting different vibes lately, and some criticism that I'm not handling my illness better. It's starting to make me think that I made a huge mistake in telling them. I've been disappointed before by friends who saw what I was like in my first major episode and all but disappeared.

I'm dealing with this alongside managing my illness and working on graduating with decent grades because well, I'd like to get as well as you are. And as strong and brave as you are too, it's a great thing to have survived being undiagnosed for so long I myself only got diagnosed when I was 30.

Because right now I don't feel brave, I feel exposed and misunderstood. I don't ask for much, just a chance at having a new career and life, with friends who accept me.

Any further words of advice would be much welcome.

Take care and god bless,
Sunshine