I'm so glad that some of you do have good support, but I do understand those who wish to keep things more private. I can tell you that in my family support has grown for me recently mostly because of the suicide of my nephew.

My sweet nephew was afflicted with both Asperger's Syndrome and bipolar disorder. Though I did have a major breakdown in my teens, his teens through early 20s were mostly one long string of sufferance, while I did get some major breaks during that period. His illness was much more in their faces than mine. I was mostly hidden 35 mins away with my husband. My nephew was even forced to live with my dad after my other nephew had a restraining order against him.

I grew extremely close to my psychiatrist over the years. I have to say that it took me years to really figure out, but the transference I developed for him was probably one as a substitute for my mother, oddly enough. I still utterly adore my psychiatrist, but in the recent 4 years I've grown to really rely on my therapist, too. Prior to that I had terrible relationships with therapists.