I sometimes say I have a brain disorder that affects me mentally and physically and leave it at that.

I sometimes will explain what I am going through in detail.

I probably haven't explained it enough at work, which is why I no longer have a job (well, that and the fact that I can't work right now).

When explaining it to my twelve-year old son, I did it much like ElsaMars did, but instead of using the ruler/yard stick analogy, (which is fantastic, by the way. All of these are), I drew a picture of the earth. I asked him if he knew what a pole was. I said what makes them a pole? He said "extreme location and weather."

We talked about extremes and that this drawing was an analogy for my disorder.

I drew the equator. I drew two lines above and below the equator. I talked about "normal" weather--how it fluctuates between cold and hot and drew a roller coaster pattern. We talked about normal happy and sad, and their causes. Then I drew a roller coaster that was outside those two lines. I started to explain extreme weather, but by then he had caught on and finished up by explaining it to me.

I think I have probably made too many assumptions about what people know about bipolar.

When do you all think it's important to tell or not? And how much?