FB users do your friends know about your bp?

I remember when I voluntarily had myself committed. My wife was so adamant against it because of the stigma associated with MI and how I would be treated for the rest of my life because I thought I was a little [lot] crazy. I had to make a stand at that point in my life. If I didn't, I was going to forever allow the stigma to dictate the behavior.

I figure if people are going to know me, they might as well really know me. I completely put myself out there. It has blown up in my face a few times. I got told one time by a long time "friend" that I must be off my meds. Frankly though being really out there has the advantage that you get to see people for who they really are too and maybe some of them are just not meant to be your friends.

Do I post about my mental illness? Or about mental illness in general?

Hel.l yeah, I do. Dam.n straight!

I write things that are informative. I tell parts of my story. I ask for support. I advertise NAMI events and ask others to share those ads. I do not share my deep, personal shames in detail, but that doesn't mean I never mention hyper-sexuality or any of the other "big crazies" in any of my writings.

When I write about my bipolar or depression or mania, or another diagnosis I find interesting info on, I write carefully, professionally, informatively--and, yes, sometimes very intimately.

Have I always been this open? No. I have not. But I am now.You know why?

We talk about stigma, we talk about shame. Those potential employers and those parents of my kid's friends? They are part of the end of stigma. They are part of the end of shame.

And so am I.

Is it scary? Heck yeah. Does it worry me? A little. Am I treated differently? Sometimes. But not enough to make me stop. No. Not enough to make me stop. And that is simply because, to me, there is one question that is bigger than how I feel about what someone else thinks about me, one question bigger than that job I (thank God!) didn't get because their view of mental illness is screwy. And that question is:

How can we ever get ANYWHERE if we keep stigmatizing ourselves?

THAT SAID...

I have absolutely ZERO judgment for you if you do not feel comfortable posting about your own mental illness. You've got your life and I've got mine. But that question I asked above? I don't know how to answer it FOR ME... except by being open.

Only a few people on FB know my diagnosis. I don't put it out there, though I'll be sure to change my profile picture to a green ribbon. (They don't have to know why.)

I totally agree !

Today I added a post on my FB page about a new partnership NAMI has in an effort to bring mental health services to more people and end stigma.

I agree with you to a point. but no I need to work for a living so losing jobs over it is not an option
and for the parents of my children's friends...well it would only hurt my son. I choose my battles. I don't really get to invested in stigma because I know who I am and the rest of the world can bugger off lol

I share BP and other mental illness posts sometimes, but I don't post my own personal experiences. I have never put on FB that I am BP. It's not something that I would probably post. While I'm ok with my FB friends knowing, I worry about other people ending up with the information.

when I used FB for like a year (before deciding it was not for me), I belonged to a lot of closed bipolar groups, so most of the people who aded me were from those groups

those that wern't from the groups... nope. I never told them

I know at some point I want to get back on FB
I sort of miss it, and now my family are in africa, I don't have the fears of them tracking me down to hurt me

Came put 700+. Friends on Facebook last year. Share and don't care is me. I got all good support!

Only a select few close friends know at this point.

I am, but I'm a certified peer counselor.

I really just make awareness type posts anyway... text crisis line 741-741, this is what anxiety feels like, life with bipolar, life with schizophrenia, etc. Everyone knows I work in an involuntary inpatient psych hospital.

no i dont tell people on FB hardly any of my family knows and i dont want them too.

I was reading Washington Post advice columnist Carolyn Hax today (you can search her for a new column daily right on Facebook) and she was writing about the issue of how vulnerable kids are/n't willing to be in terms of self expression. It made me think of this thread. Here's the tiny take-a-way I found to be especially pertinent:

"I don’t think self-expression in general can be entirely 'safe.' The risk is built into the whole concept: To express ourselves is to take who we are inside and to put it on the outside for public consumption. The very definition of vulnerability, no?"

I thought that was interesting.

I have also been thinking about the responses a few of you posted about how being super-open would make your kids vulnerable. How your children's lives would be/could be impacted. Just wow, am I sorry to hear this! I/we have never experienced this level of discrimination and wouldn't expect to in our mid-size, diverse, and notably socially open community. I guess I don't realize how lucky I am here. We've been with the same kids/parents since 1st grade.

I also hear you about the job thing. My not working isn't because I can afford it, but rather because I am simply not well enough at this time to do so. It's really tough. I'm not sure we can go in like this without losing the house, to be honest, and, truth be told, my discussing my disorder openly may have impacted my employment significantly and negatively....and I am just too dumb to realize it at this point.

I dunno.

I've been deeply ill for a long time and am still peeling the smelly layers of the onion these last fourteen months have grown. It's easy to say, "hel.l yeah," when I haven't even gotten very deep into examining the job loss part of this particular episode.

But in spite of these facts...I always have and believe very strongly in the liklihood that I will continue to say, "Dam.n straight I do!" because that's just the kind of hippie-type person I am.

If I were in your shoes, I might not. But I am not. So...no judgment, no worries, and most of all...no way to know.

I hope that makes sense and sounds as truly non-judgmental as it's meant to be. Please let me know if that's not the case.

Peace--

Wonderfully written, Julie!
You come across as very open and non-judgmental.

WC

Yes FB knows, but that's mostly cause I know everyone on my FB.

Even though work knows, I don't FB with work, they don't need to know all the gory details of the inner workings of my mind.

I want the freedom to say what I feel without someone reading it and worrying I'm about to jump off a bridge or something, its enough I kind of censor myself on WhatsApp due to work, they can't have my FB too.

it is pretty sad that if the parents here found out they would be running for the hills lol. don t get me wrong they would "like " the status and pretend pretend pretend while secretly gossiping and never letting their kids near me. They do it to ppl for way less things sigh.

....and I don't care. most of these ppl I would never hang around with if it wasn't for my kids sports etc but my son would be inadvertently shamed and isolated

I hear you about the job thing . many ppl with bipolar can t work. about 2? years ago was fired and went on unemployment and was just off the wall and didn't think in would work again. I even started the SSDI process. I know from my records I would have got it without a doubt. slowly I got better and was able to handle the work force again (at a much less stressful place)
I don't know how long that will last of course. money hangs over my head being a single mom and also without something to ground me I tend to spin off my axis
Again....i could be telling a whole different story in 6 months. There is no shame in being unable to work

I'm still posting here lol. it really does,drive me crazy because I actually cant stand half these ppl. I am from a family of music and arts and then my two sons come along completely different. totally into sports and "trends" and not even understanding ppl who do things out of the mainstream. I mean. WHO ARE THESE KIDS lol
totally opposite of me . but I just want them to be happy. that's all i want. and not end up struggling with crazy like I have my whole life. its tough being a mom lol

Only my immediate family and one close friend know about my diagnosis. There is, in my opinion, still too much stigma attached and I'd like to go back to work someday so I'm careful what I post.