Yeah, I'm alone with my diagnosis. The only support I have is the support I get here.

I haven't bothered telling my parents. They ignored the symptoms I exhibited throughout childhood, and I never got help until I was 24, when I was finally off their insurance plan. As a child, they always told me "get over it" or "stop acting that way; you're embarrassing us". They were never supportive of me, and well... when I saw them making fun of BP people, that's when I decided it's not worth telling them.

As far as I'm aware, I'm the only one in my family who has BP. My parents don't experience depression and neither does my sister. They never have. They don't know what depression is like. They just have their unfounded assumptions of what depression is, and they go off that. They just don't care to educate themselves on it. But, as the saying goes: you can't fix stupid.

Anyway, it sounds like you have a clear genetic history of mental illness. I think that probably helps your situation, right? It seems your parents are more likely to understand your situation compared to people like my parents. If you were able to identify your father's depression, I'm sure your mom has noticed it as well.

Sorry to hear about your relative.