Hi. I was diagnosed Bipolar II in 2007 after I started having my "break down" where I sunk into a terrible depression and then periods of severe anxiety. I went from someone people described as "out going and gregarious" to someone who has social anxiety and who gets super chatty in social situations because of it. My family still seems to be having a hard time with it and with me. Before I got "sick", everything was fine and they seemed to respect, like and love me but afterward, my mother said I could chose to be different, my father calls me a drama queen, my sister speaks to me with disdain and my brother just leaves the room shaking his head to show his displeasure. I can't help that I get super chatty and anxious. I try so hard to control it but they act this way toward me even when I'm quiet and relaxed. I feel like they don't even like me or love me anymore and I don't know what to do. My father's birthday dinner was last weekend and I drove an hour to see everyone (driving makes me anxious and get togethers make me anxious so I was super anxious that day). My family was seated around the table talking and my sister admonished me in front of everyone, telling me to "calm down" and stop interrupting my father. My family is one of those loud families that speaks all at once and we're very animated. Everyone was interrupting one another but she picked me out of everyone and embarrassed me. I thought I would cry but I didn't want to ruin my Dad's night so I laughed it off and playfully said "whatever". I don't know what to do anymore. Seeing my family makes me miserable. I can't speak to them in a rational manner because they gang up on me and tell me I'm just being a drama queen. I didn't know saying "When you say this or do this, it makes me sad or makes me feel bad so please don't do that anymore" was being dramatic. They treat me like I'm foaming at the mouth and I'm the same person as I've always been. Even on Facebook, they ignore me. No one returns my calls either. It makes me so sad and miserable. I just wanted to write it down somewhere that people may understand what I'm saying. Thanks for listening.
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