Good news and relief!

[bjones1888]

I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder 21 years ago... since that diagnosis I have lived my life in secret. I didn’t want anybody to know my “secret”. This filled me with shame in a sense. I learned over time that it was a disease just as any other disease. I had hospitalizations within that period of time and was always treated as if I was attention seeking. Well... I started seeing a therapist and she evaluated me and told me that she didn’t clinically feel comfortable with that diagnosis. She diagnosed me with dysthymia which is a fancy term for major depression! The point of this story is that if you’ve been diagnosed with bipolar disorder then it may be a good idea to get a second opinion as this diagnosis gets slapped on people often when it is not really what is going on with you. Just my two cents! Have a blessed day to all!

[Kat63]

I’m sorry you felt shame about being sick and felt like you had to keep it a secret. That makes it even harder.

I have anxiety and depression, and I’ve always been afraid to be too open about it - not everybody knows I’m on meds and have been in therapy. It’s bad that it has to be this way. A few of the people closest to me know. With the stigma that still exists around mental health, it’s hard to avoid feeling some shame and trying to hide it.

[bjones1888 in reply to Kat63]

Yes, the stigma surrounding mental health is still awful. It was hard but I feel that even though I dealt with depression so much throughout those years, but still managed to be successful in my career, speaks to how we can empower ourselves with knowledge and understanding of the disease.

[hypercat54 in reply to Kat63]

Why feel shame? It's not your fault after all! It's the same as any chronic disease where you tell some people but not others, or not the full details anyway. if you had cancer you would probably do the same - I know I would. If I wanted others to know for any reason I would underplay it. After all it's no ones business except yours. I have acquaintances and casual friends with chronic illness and I wouldn't pry too deeply and would feel uncomfortable if I knew all the ins and outs. That's the difference between good family and friends and not so close ones. Your illness doesn't define you so don't let it. You are not your anxiety and/or depression but a human being with good and bad qualities like everyone. Let people see these and not your illness

I am not saying for a moment you do this, but I can never understand people who insist everyone they know must have the full details of their illness. To me this would be looking for attention and sympathy and maybe expecting others to treat you differently and make allowances for you. I would hate casual people in my life to do this and even close ones. x

[bjones1888 in reply to hypercat54]

I was just raised to believe mental health is a weakness so I hid it from family and friends for fear of judgement. No one knew.

[hypercat54 in reply to bjones1888]

So was I and I kept mine from my family too. However these judgements are not relevant to you now so don't hang on to things from the past which can harm you. x

[hypercat54]

HI I am a bit surprised for this as it seems from what I have heard that bi-polar sufferers are much more likely to be diagnosed with just depression. They spend many years not getting the correct help. I am not doubting your therapists opinion though.

According to wikipedia this is the definition of dysthymia. I have only ever been diagnosed with depression but have long thought I had dysthymia as my depression is mainly mild but with some very nasty flare ups from time to time where I become actively suicidal. I am glad you are happy that you have a more appropriate diagnosis though. x

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dysth...