Do you hide your mental illnesses?

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I used to think the most important thing was to be open and honest, but the world taught me pretty quickly that's not the best idea. People have their own preconceptions, however ill-founded they may be, and will treat you differently when they know what's going on.

Those who are closest to me know what's going on with me, because I trust them and expect they should be able to trust me. Or those who have experienced a bad day, a meltdown, etc. - in those cases it's necessary to explain the reason for my behavior. But if I told my boss, I could lose my job. And I'm an expat living in Prague - if I was discovered to have a "serious illness" of any sort (which in this country pretty much means any diagnosis of anything) I would lose my visa and be deported back to America, where I would slowly shrivel up and die. So I have pretty good reason to hide.

Yes, its one of the main reasons why I isolate myself a lot of the time, and I don't want to upset or disturb people by being too open about it. Even though I can't hide it completely or be completely isolated, I do try to minimize how much of it is noticeable.

Yeah, I do. I hide all my problems from everyone, unless I manage to talk to someone I can trust, like a friend who is willing to listen and support me. I don't have very many people in my life I can talk to about this stuff, but I do have a couple of friends I can talk to. But sometimes even when I do hide everything, people can still sometimes notice that something is "weird" about me so I mostly avoid people as much as possible. Since I haven't ever been diagnosed by anything, I really don't know exactly what I have, all I can do is decide what I think I have based on research and knowledge of what makes me different than most people I know.

Well, I am not mentally ill. What I do hide is behavior that others perceive as mentally ill. Society will destroy me if I ever show my true self. They have done it in the past and they will continue to do it. Mental illness when it is not neurologically based, is a direct result of the oppression of society. Yes, there is such a thing as neurological disorders, but many people who are deemed mentally ill are more sane than the most sane people in this world.

Sounds like paranoia. Unless your true self really is that bad.

Yes, I do suffer from paranoid thoughts, but is a person paranoid if they are time and time again proved to be correct?

Sometimes when I am walking down the street, I simply want to lie down and take a nap, but my higher conscious tells me that is not such a smart idea... a schizophrenic on the other hand, might simply take a nap in the middle of a sidewalk because their inhibitions are not working like a "normal person". A schizophrenic might start masturbating during a movie again for the same reason.

I see schizophrenics as raw and true. Don't get me wrong, their emotions and thinking can become so intense, so raw, so real, that they will suffer at the hands of society, but I see schizophrenics as being enlightened beings who are suffering for the good of humanity.

If that's the case, then maybe your 'true self' is the problem.



What part of sleeping on a sidewalk or masturbating in public makes you enlightened?

Umm, you are missing the point completely. Bedtime for me. I would be more polite but I'm a little annoyed.

Before anyone here goes about Schizophrenics being more real, the doctors say I have it, but I'm unemotional and plain and I don't appear disorganised (not to mention hearing/seeing things). I'm saying it because depending on where you are, you can 'be' Schizophrenic simply for not having a job for 6 months when you're evaluated... My situation however is closer to Asperger's.

Well lets not generalize...here I don't think all people with schizophrenia do that, I mean that's almost just as bad as people who assume everyone on the autism spectrum is a copy of Rainman and I know I'm not. Also, I've had experiences that make paranoia worse, and it had nothing to do with my true self being the problem it had to do with other people giving me reason to be paranoid...though sometimes it's just useless worries about how whoever hasn't texted me in a while is mad at me or doesn't like me anymore probably brought on by general over-analyzing of emotions or whatever.

So I personally tend to assume if one is paranoid for good reason, its more to do with others having a problem with them then their true self being the problem.

Just obvious eating disorder behaviors. I rarely hear well informed commentary on the subject of eating disorders and when I hear ignorant comments directed toward me I always take the time to try to share real information and identify misconceptions... sometimes it leads to really uncomfortable situations.

somehow i have become the rumored schizo of the department but i do not believe this
because ive been battling this LABEL my mentors/classmates gave me
because of my autism DIAGNOSIS this is what prevents me from seeing the world as 'real'
and so i dive into fantasy associations to avoid social situations
which i find
too difficult or too
stressful

Well, that's your situation, and it really doesn't help unless you elaborate on your experiences.
It's also not related to whether or not his paranoia or true self is justified.



I suggest you avoid always symphathizing with the person claiming to be the victim.

Most people, NT or not, tend to have a skewed perception of reality. Usually, the more dramatic someone makes something seem, the less reliable their account of it is.

Yes. i hid it from friends because i didn't want them to feel burdened by it, and i try to mask my symptoms from my family because i don't want to throw all my problems on them... but i know that they are there for me. I just hate my mental illnesses, so if i don't have to show what i am actually feeling, what i suffer from, i'll normally try to hide it.

I hide it because I don't want unsolicited advice like "oh you shouldn't take antidepressants. They're not good for you." and other such rubbish.

Unfortunately I don't.