[Phoenix_1]

I told my boyfriend some time ago that I have bp2. He's the only person in the world that I ever told and I'm 59 years old. I was dx in 2011. We broke up 3-4 times since and today he told me he thinks I'm bat- s**t crazy (not in so many words but the idea was there) and he wants more nothing to do with me. Now I'm scared to ever tell anyone IRL ever again.

Sent from my Note 2 using Tapatalk 4

[RenjiCat]

I'm sorry! That was my fear when I told my boyfriend. Thankfully, he's very understanding and supportive. If your ex can't "deal" then he honestly doesn't deserve you. You should be loved for who you are no matter what. I can understand your hesitation.

[roads]

I don't think many "civilians" understand depression--but they aren't freaked out by it and over-the-top-judgmental of those suffering from it. An even tinier fraction (including most medical doctors) know anything about bipolar disorder--even the difference between bipolar I and II.
TV, films, journalism ... none do bipolar folks any favors. We're the last east favorite preformed type for villain. Thanks to some real life bad guys who were bipolar and other stuff, including poor samples of humanity, the bipolar label alone is enough to freak most people totally out.
I'm a bipolar II alcoholic, and in lots of circumstances I'll acknowledge being an alcoholic. I wouldn't tell anyone I'm bipolar, except my T and pdoc though. Because the minute I do, I have too much to overcome in the minds of most people. I've taken the chance, with a couple of people very close to me--and they never got past their (wrong) preconceptions, in spite of having known me for decades.
If I were in a relationship, I'd have to re-evaluate--but I don't thing I'd decide differently unless my partner already had knowledge of & personal experience with bipolar folks before meeting me.
Roadie

[Blackberryrocks11]

I told my best friend about my diagnosis, and she's been acting cooler by the week. I am afraid I may have lost her. Outside of people with mental health issues or others working in the field, I don't think I will EVER tell again.

Lesson learned.

Sorry about your boyfriend's irresponsible comment.

[A Red Panda]

I don't think I would get involved with someone without telling them ahead of time - at least I could weed out the douchebags right away.

I'm sorry that he's done this to you. Just remind yourself that he's clearly NOT a decent human being - I don't think anyone is decent if they are going to cut someone out just because they're ill.

My ex went the other route - back in May I saw him for the first (and only) time post-break up. When I completely ramped up from the sertraline. I told him all about it and how I was having a hard time with it and felt like I was going nuts - and told him about how I was going to see the pdoc and likely was going to get saddled with bipolar 2. He, instead of just outright shunning me, basically tried to take advantage of me. We didn't meet up with the intentions of hooking up. That wasn't discussed. I would have, but I hadn't had my legs shaved that day so I didn't.

Clearly he didn't really respect me much. It helps when I miss him to remind myself of that.

[Phoenix_1]

Thanks for all your replies. You helped a lot.

Apparently his first wife (35 years ago) had some kind of mental illness. She cheated, brought her boyfriends home in front of the kids, or stayed out all night, and was violent with him and the kids. He can't seem to figure out that I'm not like that. I sent him web links to read, explained everything about bp2 to him, etc. I think he doesn't want to understand. And yet, he has major depressive disorder, panic disorder, PTSD from the Viet Nam war, and is an alcoholic.

Time to write him off for good, I think.