Hello all. I am in my late teens/early twenties and have been diagnosed with bipolar II for just over a year, but it has been something I have been dealing with for 5+ years. It was originally just classic bipolar II, but I think it has moved further towards a rapid-cycling version of the disorder. Either way, my episodes have been occurring steadily more frequently.

After the diagnosis, I didn't tell anyone (including my family) for quite sometime. As I have gotten used to dealing with it, it has become something I shared with certain friends. I was always quite good at separating my episodes from my outward interactions with people in my college community - in other words, when I was having an extreme episode I would seal myself off from all but my closest friends so that people wouldn't change their perception of me. However, this has become nearly impossible to do, both because I am living in an apartment with 5 other people and can't seal myself off so they don't see, and because my episodes have been occurring at such an increased rate.

My question is: How do I decide who to tell about it and who not to tell? If it is obvious, will they have guessed? In certain moods, I want to say f-it and tell all of them, but in others I know that if I do I will feel constantly watched and judged. I don't know what to do, but it is becoming increasingly stressful for me. If I don't tell people, does that make me ashamed of this part of my life? I don't want to overload people with my problems, you know?