How large is your "circle of trust" about your illness?!
Question: How large is your "circle of trust" about your illness!?
Just curious!.!.!.
I've been thinking of maybe widening mine!. It currently includes only my husband and best girlfriend!. I don't want to tatoo depression and ADHD on my forhead, but maybe not be so secretive!. I've gone through a very rough time with switching around and trying different meds for the best fit, have been sick, spacey, and just plain unavailable!.
I'm very exhausted from lying to people to try to cover up the fact that I'm not perfect!.
Now that I'm back on my first (and turns out best med) and feeling better, should I tell a larger group of friends and family what the deal is, or just keep that smile slapped on my face!.
I'm new to the whole illness thing (only a couple of years) so any advice is very greatly appreciated!.
Thanks and have a good weekend!!Www@Answer-Health@Com
I've been thinking of maybe widening mine!. It currently includes only my husband and best girlfriend!. I don't want to tatoo depression and ADHD on my forhead, but maybe not be so secretive!. I've gone through a very rough time with switching around and trying different meds for the best fit, have been sick, spacey, and just plain unavailable!.
I'm very exhausted from lying to people to try to cover up the fact that I'm not perfect!.
Now that I'm back on my first (and turns out best med) and feeling better, should I tell a larger group of friends and family what the deal is, or just keep that smile slapped on my face!.
I'm new to the whole illness thing (only a couple of years) so any advice is very greatly appreciated!.
Thanks and have a good weekend!!Www@Answer-Health@Com
Answers:
Hello!. I am in the same situation!. I have depression and ADD!. It has been terribly difficult to find the right meds and I have a har d time at work!.
I decided to keep my illness to myself - only a few close friends!. But sometimes, I want to yell!!!! I'm struggling here!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.but I just don't trust people!.!.!.!.!.!.!.
Good luck to you!. It is nice to know there are others out there like me!.Www@Answer-Health@Com
I decided to keep my illness to myself - only a few close friends!. But sometimes, I want to yell!!!! I'm struggling here!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.but I just don't trust people!.!.!.!.!.!.!.
Good luck to you!. It is nice to know there are others out there like me!.Www@Answer-Health@Com
If you do decide to let people know about your depression, pick one person at a time to tell!. People can only take in so much information at a given time!. Give the information in small amounts!. See how the person responds to you!. Can this person be trusted!? Does this person respond to you in a supportive manner!? Gradually you will be able to reveal more about yourself as this person earns your trust!. As long as there are a few important people in your life that truly know you, hopefully you will be content with this!.Www@Answer-Health@Com
ehhh, depression is a hard thing, especially when deciding who to tell!.
I have told my wife and my employer (if it affects your work they probably should know, unless you don't feel comfortable)!. They say you should have at least 3 people you trust that should know so that they can support you, but I also know how hard it is to keep from being branded!. Don't tell too many people, you'll be defined by it or they'll think you're trying to get attention!.Www@Answer-Health@Com
I have told my wife and my employer (if it affects your work they probably should know, unless you don't feel comfortable)!. They say you should have at least 3 people you trust that should know so that they can support you, but I also know how hard it is to keep from being branded!. Don't tell too many people, you'll be defined by it or they'll think you're trying to get attention!.Www@Answer-Health@Com
My circle of trust is only my immediate family which includes grandmas and grandpas, mom, and dad!. I do include my friends, but they are given limited info!. All they know is if I'm having a bad day or not!. One of my roomates know more becuase I "almost" lunged at him with a knife becuase of what was going on, so he suspects more!. I have told my supervisor at work, but she kind of looks at me different so I would leave any employer out of the situation!. I'm new to the illness thing too so keep your chin up and be careful who you tell becuase mental illness does carry a particularly negative stigma!.
Have a good weekend also!.Www@Answer-Health@Com
Have a good weekend also!.Www@Answer-Health@Com
It's a difficult one!. I have OCD and most of my schoolfriends (about 5 or 6) were my sounding board for different things I kept realising, because before I realised it was OCD I just thought eveything was normal!. So when I did realise, I basically questioned most of the things I do because I didn't know what was and what wasn't normal!. However, they only know the vague details of the less embarrassing things, and the really troublesome things (such as the time I felt I was losing my mind, or the fact that I couldn't get to bed for whatever reason until 4:30am, for instance) none of them knew!.
One friend in particular I told most things, and another knew almost as much!. I had huge difficulties telling my parents - in fact, it was my Mum who told my Dad!. In my congregation I have friends whom I love as brothers and sisters but I have only really mentioned it in passing to some of them, if the conversation has seemed appropriate!. One friend has depression and currently suffers from panic attacks, and she knows pretty much everything because I thought it might help her to know I could understand how difficult things were for her!. She's really the only person now with whom I feel able to talk freely; I find myself thinking that nobody else understands and they might think I'm moaning and/or looking for sympathy (which I'm not!. Just understanding)!.
I did however recently have a good chat with a colleague of mine when I'd only managed to get 1 1/2 hours' sleep the previous night!. I knew it would affect my abilities during the day, so he had to know really!. Surprisingly he was exceedingly sympathetic and consequently helped me out a great deal when he could see I was struggling - but he wasn't patronising at all, and didn't help when there was no need!. So telling colleagues and/or employers if you see fit can turn out well!. Of course, it is entirely your decision, and I evidently couldn't say whether with your employer it would work out as well!. I simply gave that experience to show there may be hope :)
I think those with whom you often interact perhaps should know, even if you simply say that you have depression and ADHD and not go into details!. Don't tell too many people though, because as a previous answer said, you could end up being identified by it and/or thought of as seeking attention!. Really, probably the best thing is to work out who you want to know, and who needs to know, and take it from there!. (It might be worth working out if those who need to know about one thing need to know about the other, or not!.)
Another way you could view it is if it were a physical illness, who would you tell!? There seems unfortunately still a stigma with mental illness that there isn't with physical illness - I'm guilty of feeling ashamed at times, it has to be said - but it's simply an illness of a part of you!. Alas, one that cannot be cured yet, but simply an illness!.
All the best with whatever you decide!. Have a great weekend yourself :)Www@Answer-Health@Com
One friend in particular I told most things, and another knew almost as much!. I had huge difficulties telling my parents - in fact, it was my Mum who told my Dad!. In my congregation I have friends whom I love as brothers and sisters but I have only really mentioned it in passing to some of them, if the conversation has seemed appropriate!. One friend has depression and currently suffers from panic attacks, and she knows pretty much everything because I thought it might help her to know I could understand how difficult things were for her!. She's really the only person now with whom I feel able to talk freely; I find myself thinking that nobody else understands and they might think I'm moaning and/or looking for sympathy (which I'm not!. Just understanding)!.
I did however recently have a good chat with a colleague of mine when I'd only managed to get 1 1/2 hours' sleep the previous night!. I knew it would affect my abilities during the day, so he had to know really!. Surprisingly he was exceedingly sympathetic and consequently helped me out a great deal when he could see I was struggling - but he wasn't patronising at all, and didn't help when there was no need!. So telling colleagues and/or employers if you see fit can turn out well!. Of course, it is entirely your decision, and I evidently couldn't say whether with your employer it would work out as well!. I simply gave that experience to show there may be hope :)
I think those with whom you often interact perhaps should know, even if you simply say that you have depression and ADHD and not go into details!. Don't tell too many people though, because as a previous answer said, you could end up being identified by it and/or thought of as seeking attention!. Really, probably the best thing is to work out who you want to know, and who needs to know, and take it from there!. (It might be worth working out if those who need to know about one thing need to know about the other, or not!.)
Another way you could view it is if it were a physical illness, who would you tell!? There seems unfortunately still a stigma with mental illness that there isn't with physical illness - I'm guilty of feeling ashamed at times, it has to be said - but it's simply an illness of a part of you!. Alas, one that cannot be cured yet, but simply an illness!.
All the best with whatever you decide!. Have a great weekend yourself :)Www@Answer-Health@Com