Do you keep PC a secret?

Well, I kinda do keep it a small secret. Actually, I'm trying to keep this seperate from my other internet personae so these two don't intertwine.

Not really a secret, but I didn't mention it so far to anyone.

I do not tell many people about it -- the only one who knew, that I am sure of, was my T.

I mentioned once to my best friend that I belong to a mental health forum and online community for support but that is it

I'm very open that I have bipolar II and PTSD, but I am also a very very private person and I don't want people (family) reading what I post in surviors forum, they dont' know and I'm quite statisfied with them NEVER knowing

I've considered telling my best friend or showing her a post, but I decide against it, I tell her everything anyways

To me PC is my safe place, I would recommend it to a friend if I felt they needed it, but I don't know if I would reveal my identy on here. I'm very careful to not use this username anywhere else on the internet so nobody can link it back to me.

I think it varies for each person and their situation and comfter levels.

I just want to point out that it's fine for most to reveal they go on PC. I just can't tell people outside or give out my screen name because I don't want them to know about the original reason I came here.

Thanks everyone for the responses . I think we all like to think as PC as our safe place.
I'm not a very open person when it comes to my mental health issues. With my therapist , P-doc and on here of course I tell it like it is. I don't discuss it with my family members , only that I am depressed and am bi-polar.
Maybe that's why mental health has the stigma that it has because of people like me keeping it to themselves . Some interesting replies though.

I agree with being a member here one should not feel ashamed. I am not ashamed I visit here.. I just know that in real life, when I was struggling big time with panic attacks I mentioned it to a few close friends and they did not understand. And when I was in therapy, a very close friend told me that she was abused as a child too and she did not need therapy and she mocked me for doing the therapy stuff..

I am a very private person. I tell no one about my troubles. Guess this is my private little space that I visit when life gets out of hand..

There is no right or wrong here. Is a personal choice

well, yeah it's a secret.

My immediate family knows (husband and sons) - but over all I too keep PC a secret from the rest of the world so others in my life do not find out... I do not keep PC a secret because I am afraid that people will find out about my mental health issues (as many already know) - I keep it a secret because I have shared a lot here on PC that goes way beyond my mental health issues that I do not share with people in real life.

Guess you can say - PC is my Sanctuary, over flowing with safety & acceptance.

OMG..lol...I just realized how I contradicted myself in the first sentence.
Meant to say, "No"...gawd.

Whoa...(first time on meds, peeps...lmao..have patience with meh).

Huggles to all.....

Shangrala

I sort of keep PC a secret. Among my group of friends, mental health support sites rarely come up in conversation anyway. My wife knows and encourages it because I open up more easily with the anonymity of internet to "protect" me. Irl, no one really knows about my past and "feelings" except my wife, and I like it that way.

Yaaaay!!!!!!!!!!

Yes it's my secret.

No one knows at all. Not even when I 1st registered. I am normally on here when my folks are in as my computer is in their house. If they are walking close, by or behind me I close my window. I am not ashamed, its just they would not understand. My Twin doesn't even know just not a thing that pop's into the conversation(s)

As someone said already its where we can all openly be honest. I feel you guys would not judge me so that's why its my secrert I come on here

A friend of mine told me about PC and convinced me to join, so he obviously does know :P
Then I met another member whom I became close friends with. So she also knows

Other than that I haven't told anyone, but it's not a secret. I mean, I'm not purposely keeping it from anyone. I don't communicate with my family, so no telling them. Other friends... well I don't have that many and most (at least irl) don't speak English, so there's no point in telling them about a foreign forum...

My husband, mother, and niece knows that I am a member of PC. My co-workers just know I am member of some on-line support group. My friends support me in my struggles as they all know about my mental and physical health. I haven't mentioned PC to them. Just didn't think they needed to know.
I use my PC pen at work and they thought I got it from some doctor's office and would like one because it writes so well.

So I don't really keep it a secret, but I don't share either. It is my personal refuge.

I told my current T that I had an online support group, but not that it was PC or any other details. Someone suggested something once about a problem I was having and it was very insightful and wanted to share it with T. But wanted her to know that I personally was not that insightful. But I haven't told anyone else. I live alone so I don't share my computer with anyone. When I am at school I am very careful and only use PC when I am logged in (not on the general computers) because the computer system is programed to wipe everything after you log out for security. It is mostly that since I do write about people in my life, I wouldn't want them knowing about it. That would be bad.

i'm private about it but not secretive. my mom knows, my T knew and i was going to tell my good friend from the old forum i used to post on (not psychology-oriented) but then i've posted some embarrassing things concerning him so i decided not too.

i definitely got weirded out when things from one thread in the psychotherapy forum ended up (even while altered) in an article on the ny times website. even anonymously and with details changed, i don't want things i say ending up on a major newspaper site. i took most info off my profile after that.

The only person who knows I've been to this site is my T. I mentioned it to her and sometimes I wonder if she's on here.

My husband and everyone else I know has no idea. When my husband is nearby I close the window and also delete browser history so he doesn't know i'm on this site. There are things I talk about that I would like to share with him but for now it's a bit confusing for me know. T along with this site is helping me out tons.

A very big thank you everyone!

Shortly after I joined the site I was singing its praises to many friends and family. Then I was going through a rough period, some of the issues that I thought I’d dealt with years ago reared their ugly head. It occurred to me that I had not shared many of the difficult things from my childhood with these friends, nor did I ever intend to so I thought I’d better start keeping my big mouth shut. Now I just say “the site I go to online.”

My husband knows exactly where I go, he even has an account here (AAAAB) but he’s only logged on a handful of times.

I’m not trying to hide anything, I just want to be brutally honest with what I’m feeling at the time. My perspective may be wrong, I like the ability to vent and get feed back and not have to apologize later. Or worse yet, hurt someone’s feelings because one of us is having a bad day.

If I was open about the site, I think I’d be much more guarded here.

I wrote before that I have told others to come here; and that I don't keep it a secret.

More fool I!!!

A couple of weeks ago, this person I knew (a fanatic about some things--scarey)
followed me on here, using a name that was obvious to me.

She embarrassed me terrribly, and used my real name in a post...

I pm'ed her and told her I knew it was her---haven't seen her since.

I think I'll start keeping it a secret from here on out.......theo

Spouse and p-doc know. No way in the world would I tell anyone else. I enjoy my anonymity here and feel grateful for the ability to say whatever I need to say.

I'm very protective of any personal information. I have an active volunteer life and it's politically charged. I would be frightened if someone were to connect me to this site. They would use it against me and consequently harm my cause.