[ThisWayOut]

Most people in my life (unless they have lived with me or are very, very close) do not know I struggle with mental illness. I found something I wanted to share with more people,oso I publicly posted about it for the first time ever. I'm not sure if anyone will notice or care (the posts that mean the most to me rarely get any notice, not sure why), but the anxiety has gone up. I think I'm tired of hiding behind fake smiles and telling everyone everything is great when it's not. I'm hoping it will spark conversation on the topic, but I'm scared of any potential rejection. Ooh well. Working to dispel the stigma I guess (and maybe have some help getting access to the treatment options I know I need). Here's to big risks and a whole lot of nothing coming from them. (Next step: publicizing my anonymous blog on fb... but that is likely years away!)

[January]

I think you were very brave to post about your MI on Facebook. Hopefully, you'll receive positive feedback and support. At least 80% of my friends, if not more, know of my MI, and they accept it as just part of who I am. What you did was great!

My best to you,

Jan

[MotownJohnny]

I wish I had your courage.

[gayleggg]

Good for you. Hope you get a good response.

[ThisWayOut]

So, three hours later and they responded to every other post but that one. I guess no one knows what to do with that info. It's better than rejection tho, so I'll take it. I did get support from one friend whose own disclosure helped fuel my courage. I'm not so f freaked out anymore. Thanks for the support all!

Bad idea. Telling people over fb only makes people now judge you and they will be less understanding and more judgemental of your future struggles. I hope you limited it to close friends, that could work, but all your fb friends? Yeah bad idea. You cant take it back, they'll always see you as the mentally ill one, some might even defriend or put you on ignore now (especially if you vent your struggles on fb).

[ThisWayOut]

That's ok. I don't want friends that can't open their minds and hearts to something like that. I've been unfriended for my views on religion, for being gay, and for posting copious pictures of my snakes and other pets. But thanks for the words of caution. I'm expecting rejection, because that is how the world works. So far, it had been in the form of ignoring. I may take it harder when it's more vocal, but being ignored can be just as painful. No one takes my posts seriously anyway since I'm "the crazy snake lady" without them knowing how accurate the "crazy" part was, lol. I'm just hoping that maybe someone else sees and feels less alone. And maybe, just maybe, we can start to have intelligent conversation around the stigma and treatment of people with mental health issues... I'm tired of lying to people, and I'm tired of being seen as less of a human being simply because of my diagnosis.

I understand that feeling

Just try not to be upset when people do ignore and judge you now. More people will back off than come to you with support. And when you're stable and out of it for a few years you might look back and regret anyone had ever known.

[Travelinglady]

I can understand why you would do that, but, yes, you can expect some folks to not know how to deal with you now, likely through ignorance and just plain feeling uncomfortable. Maybe you will get some support from a few of them face to face. I am glad you have a friend who understands. One advantage here is that most all of us have a MI!

Also, do you have your FB set up so only your friends can see it? Otherwise, ANYBODY with FB connections could find out about it.

[ThisWayOut]

My privacy is set to friends only. But it's not my real name anyway.
Earlier tonight my friends started checking fb and I actually got a ton of support (way more than expected) from people that matter. I had recently cleaned up my friends list to only include people I know in real life (I had a bunch of game and reptile connections before). I'd like to think I'm at a place in life where I can handle the inevitable rejection from some for admitting to MI. And a few friends even admitted their own struggles.
It'll never replace pc tho
I think more people than we know hide little secrets like this from others...

[Travelinglady]

Yes, I'm sure most people have a few secrets. Glad to hear your FB audience is not the whole world! I plan on changing my setting to just my friends, too.

[CantExplain]

Originally Posted by Supanova

Bad idea. Telling people over fb only makes people now judge you and they will be less understanding and more judgemental of your future struggles. I hope you limited it to close friends, that could work, but all your fb friends? Yeah bad idea. You cant take it back, they'll always see you as the mentally ill one, some might even defriend or put you on ignore now (especially if you vent your struggles on fb).

Not so. Sure, some will turn away, but the others will value you all the more. You'll lose on quantity but gain on quality. To me, that's a positive outcome.