Hello to everyone with mental health disorders and other mental illnesses.
My question is how you communicate with people dear to you about your diagnosis, and how often you think it’s better not to open up? Have you told your coworkers or your partner's relatives about your diagnosis?
I have a borderline personality disorder, and I normally keep it a secret because of how most people change when they think you’re mental. I know that my biggest problem is overreacting to tiniest emotional spikes, and I’m working on it, but I accept that there will be emotional breakdowns for the rest of my life, and the best I can do is forgive myself for my mood swings. My family knows that I’m seeing a therapist, and it helps, for I feel they’re more patient with me now and give me space to calm down when I’m losing it. But I don’t know, maybe it’s just because they’re parents and their love is unconditional?…
My only attempt to open up to someone I loved was a mistake. We broke up weeks after that, and from the moment he knew about BPD, things went downhill. There was probably a great deal of my fault in that. I always attract men younger than myself and end up disbelieving their feelings for me are real. But I still think that how my ex reacted before he found out about my BPD and after were two different things. At the peak of our breakdown he said I was an underdeveloped child who needed to grow up… It’s really hurting because I’m struggling to be a grownup who can control her emotions, and this person knew it. Why did I expect him to be more understanding? He could have read about BPD to see that there’re not only bad emotions… My sensitive part goes both ways, and I can be a caring and loving partner. Telling anyone else but my closest people about my war with myself makes me feel very vulnerable. I think it’s easier to explain my rage or impulsive behavior by just saying I’m stressed and apologizing. They don’t need to know about BPD.
