There is recent thread by a thoughtful young woman about how her lover wont call her his girlfriend. My female mentor keeps trying to call me her best friend -bff- and I’m not and I keep telling her to stop. I dont think these things, names that define relationships, are unimportant. We are very close but somebody else is obviously her best friend. She has a bipolar son who is lower functioning than I am and very fragile and I think she constantly puts a phony spin on many things treating me as if I were him, sugar coating everything. I like a positive person, but I dont like bs and distortions. Being bipolar, I am always fighting at least minor distortions in thinking: aiming a little too hi or a little too low or being undecided on a direction because I’m bouncing around and even have mixed states under stress. This week I have tried really hard to set some boundaries with her and someone else really close about not manipulating me, miscommunicating with me, whatever we want to call it. All in all, I’m not that great at being firm with people— family members dont get or exploit the bipolar.
HOW DO YOU SET BOUNDARIES & STICK TO THEM WITHOUT STRESS?