I like what Chasing2 & KamikazeBaby said the most. Unfortunately, you take a HUGE risk when you open up to anyone about mental health issues, even if they happen to be good friends and family. I've made the mistake of thinking that my family would maybe try to be supportive of me although they have rarely been supportive of me before, and they ended up telling me that it's "all in my head" and that the way that I think is "negative", and that if I just smile and think positive, and socialize more, that I'd be OK again.

They have then told me that I'm crazy for not snapping out of my depression after awhile. A lot of people are like that unfortunately. They don't get it. People are often afraid of what they don't understand. It doesn't help that mentally ill people are always portrayed in a negative light in movies and the media.

Everytime there is a mass shooting for example, they always claim that person was a loner, weird, and mentally ill for example. I know that isn't the best example, but even if it is true, it just makes other people think that mentally ill people are all prone to violence or something like that.

A lot of people just don't know how to deal with a mentally ill person, so they don't. They just don't want to have to adjust their behaviour to accommodate people who aren't like them. One former friend told me that she felt like she felt like she always had to walk on "eggshells" around me because of the way I am. That's ridiculous as I was never THAT sensitive. And I never asked her to treat me any differently either.

Another friend who was my former best friend became a lot more distant towards me after I made the mistake of telling her about my social anxiety, my panic attacks, and my depression after a few years. I expected support and sympathy from her, not the cold shoulder. Ugh. I'll NEVER make the mistake of revealing my issues to anyone outside of here again as a lot of people do judge.

Even people who have similar issues do judge too. If you're worse off than they are, they won't get why you can't just get over being so depressed when they clearly can. Or they at least expect you to control your emotions like they do. It's not fair, but it is what it is. Not everyone can control how they feel all the time.

It's best to NOT tell ANYONE aside from a Dr or therapist about mental health issues. Like I said, a lot of people DO judge. It's funny to how people with physical handicaps are looked upon with sympathy, but once someone finds out that you have a mental illness, all of a sudden, you're labeled as a "crazy" person who needs to be avoided and shunned. At least that's how most people do react, and it's sad. We need support and understanding, not judgement, ridicule, and to be even more isolated and shunned than ever.