[Iamwho]

This happened recently and reminded me that it had happened before.

[Jazz91]

if they truely care for you then no they do not unless you make a joke about it. the exception to this is laughing because they do not know what else to do

[HalfSwede]

The first time I told my parents I wished I was dead they kind of ridiculed it, but they eventually realized I was serious. Your friends and family may come around. Some of mine are as unable to cope with it today as they were 30 years ago, though. I wouldn't feel bad or blame yourself if people laugh. It's really a sign of immaturity on their part.

[Omers]

Yes, I have some that think my struggles are a great joke and can't figure out why I don't laugh too. It sucks.

[Iamwho]

Thanks for your responses. I was wondering why they would act like this.
So some don't care, don't know what to do, are unable to cope and are immature. Sometimes it just feels mean or like bullying (immature).
I learned to ignore it in the past when I was doing much better. The laughter seems to have come back now that I am not so well. A couple family members who had their own experiences and grew are more understanding now.

[beadlady29-old]

(((((((((((Iamwho))))))))))))))))
beads sad 4 u, and far evryone else who has to deal with this kinda stuff. yes, beads also is the butt end of many a not so well-intended joke about her imental illness, and your rite, it does suck.
all of us beadies

[Elana05]

((Iamwho))
Depression is a serious illness. It is as careless and insensitive to laugh at someone suffering from a mental illness as it would be with any other illness. Those who do have their own issues. They will have to deal with them in their own time. The best you can do is be gentle with yourself and realize you are doing the best you can. Sending supportive thoughts your way.

[Flooded]

None of my "family" know I have issues. I've been hiding it for a few years now.

[Can't Stop Crying]

Yes - I have been laughed at and mocked...I think I've finally chalked it up to their ignorance.

[Umbral_Seraph]

I have never been laughed at for mental illness but no one seems to think that it's something real. It's just not seen as a legitimate condition...

[LittleForgetMeNot]

No, my family hasn't. But that's because they were all witnesses to the treatment I received as a child, and understand that with my brother being intellectually delayed that life is extremely difficult. They're not really the reach out and talk to you type, and they don't know that I am depressed but know I don't attend school.. Even if they do reach out I tend to leave it alone. They listen to me with the ears of a strict parent which makes me feel judged and misunderstood.

One who shows signs of mental aberration is, inevitably, perhaps, but cruelly, shut off from familiar, thoughtless intercourse, partly excommunicated; his isolation is unwittingly proclaimed to him on every countenance by curiosity, indifference, aversion, or pity, and in so far as he is human enough to need free and equal communication and feel the lack of it, he suffers pain and loss of a kind and degree which others can only faintly imagine, and for the most part ignore. ~Charles Horton Cooley

My family goes from get over it, to stop being so negative, to he is a nutter -- do not listen to him ... to we are praying for you.

[honeyflower5]

There is a lot of bipolar on one side of my family and the family does laugh about it. My mother is to the point where she has lost her short term memory. The doctors keep wanting to treat the memory loss and ignore that she's in a deep depression with a strong family history of bipolar (all 3 siblings!). My dad frustrates me. I called and said I was just told I have it, take my mom back in and make them treat her! He argued with me that I didn't have bipolar because I wasn't suffering from a lack of sunlight. Then proceeded to tell me how I didn't act like my mother's "crazy" siblings. After all, the one just had "nerves" and the other came from "drugs". Of course, this is why I myself chose to study psychology!

[Gidzmo]

I've been scolded for worrying too much.
I've been told that I don't have a sense of humor (because I don't always find what they laugh at funny).
I sometimes feel as though I'm the family oddball.

[Vibe]

I guess I'm a bit different because I often laugh at myself and my mental illness. I like finding humor in the situation and it's better to laugh than cry. My friends sometimes laugh with me too, and I don't mind. They're not being malicious and we're all on the same page with it.

I tend to have more problems with my family being dismissive of my problems. They'll all go into as deep a denial as they can, then get frustrated and lash out when I'm not doing well. Many are outright triggering and oftentimes it's intentional, so they have a reason to sneer at me. The guys are especially that way. So that's where most of my difficulties with others who are close to me come from.

[moth]

Everyone thought I was faking everything I was going through; especially the ticks and muscle spasms that were very pronounced. When I had my first full-out seizure, nearly all my family realized I wasn't faking at all. My dad, however, just laughs it off and says I need to 1) get out of the house more 2) excercise more and 3) stop watching the 'liberal' tv that puts these ideas in my head. He doesn't even live in my house and I see him once every few months, so, he has no way of knowing how I run my life. It's just convenient excuses for him because he seems to think he is always right and has a messiah complex.

I should add that he was diagnosed with Narcissistic Personality Disorder and Paranoid Personality Disorder (lucky us lol) and that is why he acts this way. He doesn't seem to think he has the disorder and blames 'liberal psychiatrists' for diagnosing him that way. Now he doesn't talk about it. It's funny because I was brought up as a liberal by both him and my mom. -_-

[Junerain]

Just wanted to drop in and say that DOES sound like bullying, and you deserve to be treated with tender loving care, as we all do. Hold your head up high- and try to develop relationships, perhaps more with friends than family, with people that respect and value you Let us know is you need ideas where to find them, I have joined a couple support groups and found it is conducive to solid, honest relationships. try dbsalliance.org

click on 'find support'

[Iamwho]

Thanks everyone it really helps to know what others have to deal with.
Now I had a family member curse at me because I don't answer the phone (not even calling to talk to me). It's ok I think they were having their own mental crisis.
Thanks Junerain for now I PC but will look at dbsalliance.org

[Junerain]

At http://www.dbsalliance.org/site/Page...supportlanding

you will plug in your zip code and find people in real life with similar circumstances, who open up and share and encourage..great people!!

[Open Eyes]

(((((((I am who))))))))

Well, it sounds like those around you just don't understand you, as you can see, you in a lot of company with that. No my family doesn't really get it either. They are starting to come around a little. I had a friend that accused me of luxuriating in it, well she clearly doesn't understand it at all. She seems to think that a vacation would solve all my problems, she doesn't realize that we take our problems with us or they just seem to hitch a ride somehow.

No it took a long time for me to break, so I guess the road back or at least to somewhere because back wasn't good either, is going to take some time.

I have to say that where I really get the support or even some understanding is in PC. In PC, we can joke about it sometimes because underneath we already understand it.

You know whenever it comes up, I slowly start to see where it comes from, back then in that family something we needed and didn't get. I hear it in the corners that are quiet, it creeps out. I always look for it, because I know its there. Even is the person who is sad doesn't know its there.

Well Im not laughing at you, I understand. I hope you at least take peace in that as other understand too, at least here at PC.

Open Eyes

[Gidzmo]

[quote=Open Eyes;1855092Well, it sounds like those around you just don't understand you, as you can see, you in a lot of company with that. No my family doesn't really get it either.

In PC, we can joke about it sometimes because underneath we already understand it. [/quote]

It's very hard, if not impossible, for those who haven't been there to 'get it'. My family doesn't quite understand it. I'm often told I worry too much.