Penny6Casual Contributor
25 years diagnosed with Bipolar
Hi. Nice to be on here. This is my first time that I have reached out on an on-line capacity to others with a shared experience of mental health problems. I have had the diagnosis of bipolar for 25 years now but there were early signs in my youth of depression and social anxiety/paranoia. I first crashed when I was 27 with a major psychotic episode. Since then I have had several such episodes resulting in hospitalisations. My last one was in May this year. During the episodes I can be well and functioning but for the main part depression and anxiety are present in varying degrees. My awareness and insight has improved over time and I follow the advice of health professionals with regards to taking medication and receiving therapy regularly. My supports from family and friends has been quite good. But I am beginning to feel that they no longer have the capacity to listen to my mental health issues. I believe they love me but I can't help feeling that the impacts of my illness has affected them too over this long duration of time. I have decided for the moment to exclude them in the details of my problems and turn to the professionals and to like minded people who have a shared experience. I look forward to future conversations with whom ever reads this.
