Hi B -- I don't tell people either. I'm not going to sugarcoat anything and tell you that telling people is the answer... because sometimes, it's not.

You are going to run into friends, family, and even mental health professionals who are too wrapped up in their own issues to reach out to you in a way that you might feel would be most helpful at this time. It could be very damaging to you and you might feel rejected and your symptoms might progress.

BUT

At the same time, you might run into friends, family, and even mental health professionals who are able to engage you in conversations that transform your way of thinking. They might be able to embrace you with support that helps you pull out of your lost place into a place of warmth and direction.

Like everything else in life, it's a gamble and there is risk involved. I can tell you that I will never tell my family because my family is a very sick group of people who have significant psychiatric and physical illnesses that limit their ability to reach out. I can tell you that I will probably never tell my friends because I haven't nurtured relationships where this type of information is shared. I can also tell you that reaching out here, just in the last 10 minutes, has helped me tremendously and elevated my mood and lowered my blood pressure. So, based on that and some previous experiences in my life, I believe that just getting this stuff out of you starts the healing process... and lifts enough weight off of your shoulders to get you moving again.

Good luck with things. You are a strong person to be able to talk about it even here... and I especially appreciate that strength since what is helping me in this moment is being able to share this with you.