Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Self-disclosure - bipolar disorder

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    #16
    Hello PJane92. I'm glad to hear you've found some reassurance from the people you've talked with. I hope the direction you need to go will soon become clear. Good luck with whatever you decide!
    uni

    ~ it's always worth it ~

    Comment


      #17
      New to forum. A little iffy about self disclosure. Diagnosed with bipolar depression, OCD & social anxiety. My family and friends have disowned me...they think I'm a quack. Mention anything with the word "bipolar" and they head for the hills. Feel very isolated, no friends or family. My biggest support, my mom, understood me, believed me and listened to me. She passed away 2 years ago & I am still reeling over her death, I miss her so much! Have very supportive husband who has a brother with manic depression, so he knows the battles of mental illness. And I have a wonderful little dog who is with me all the time and likes to sleep and eat all the time...just like me! On various psych meds....nothing else to be done. Plus my family thinks Pdoc is nuts so that doesn't help. Be careful who you tell....could backfire

      Comment


        #18
        Hello Notgettingbetter and welcome to the forums. As you already know, living with a mental illness can be very lonely. Most of my family don't talk to me and none of my many relatives have been for a visit since I was diagnosed (about 20 yrs ago) even though many live close by. However that is there problem and not mine.

        Most of my friends, but not all, have mental illnesses themselves these days and I find them to be a lot better friends than my old ones used to be.

        Please feel free to ask questions on this forum, answer other people's questions and/or use the forum to vent out some of life's frustrations. Take Care. paul m
        "Alone we can do so little;
        Together we can do so much"
        Helen Keller

        Comment


          #19
          Welcome to the forums Notgetting better. I am selective about who I tell and how much I tell about my mental illness. Sometimes I just don't have the energy to educate people. I did have one close friend, or at least I thought we were close friends, until I told her. I haven't heard from her in months.
          AJ

          Humans punish themselves endlessly
          for not being what they believe they should be.
          -Don Miguel Ruiz-

          Comment


            #20
            "There is no national body organizing mental health peer support groups or other activities. I'm pretty much up on a lot of resources dealing with anxiety, bipolar, and depression and it's still a nightmare for me to find out comprehensive information(professional or volunteer) in just about any province, including my own. I'm even more in the dark when it comes to finding out about what's available for other mental illnesses. " Paul m said

            Paul m, have you checked out starting a support group with dbsalliance.org out of the USA? Yes, it requires incorporating, setting up a board of directors, developing by-laws in order to affiliate with them, but I'm considering it. Resources and support seem worth it. Does require me to disclose. Hopefully to appropriate people only. I would really like a face to face peer-led support group and perhaps I'm the one to start it in my area.

            Comment


              #21
              Hello Alisa and thx for the suggestion. However in parts of Ontario and a few other parts of Canada there are peer support groups that do quite well. However my main complaint is that there is no national body like the DBSA. I've facilitated a peer support group now for almost 25 yrs and I act as regional coordinator for the Mood Disorders Assoc of Ont for quite a few more peer support groups.

              Like the DBSA , the MDAO does supply groups with quite a bit of free stuff. The MDAO doesn't have the resources to run all of the programs that the DBSA does, but they do run a number of supportive programs and are expanding all of the time.

              As you mentioned the DBSA has a great list of resources and I use them myself. I'm not sure that the DBSA requires all groups to incorporate, but they do strongly encourage it. The main drawback to incorporation is trying to come up the the $600-$1000 needed to incorporate and many small groups just don't have that sort of cash right away.

              As a side note, I was able to attend the International Society of Bipolar Disorders and I attended several seminars put on by the DBSA and Allen Doederlin( DBSA president) and I had a coffee together while we discussed various formats and ways to run groups. Great guy, very down to earth.

              I hope that you are able to start a group in your area. Take Care. paul m
              "Alone we can do so little;
              Together we can do so much"
              Helen Keller

              Comment


                #22
                The following group does Peer Support certification in Canada. This is a new initiative that started a few years ago - http://www.psac-canada.com/

                The Mississauga/Halton LIHN just funded 20-30 new paid Peer Support jobs this year involving many agencies.

                I live in Halton and there were less than 10 Peer Support jobs in all of Halton only a few years ago.

                Many of the new jobs, maybe even most, of the new Peer jobs are full time positions.

                This is encouraging.

                dk
                dave

                Comment


                  #23
                  Thanks for the valuable info, Dave and Paul. Paul, I'm just wondering how it can cost up to $600 -$1000 to incorporate as a society. $50 has to be sent in to the provincial gov't with the application. The only other expense I can think of is a lawyer and I've found one on the web in my area that does pro bono work for charities. What am I missing?

                  Comment


                    #24
                    Hello Alisa. Nope you didn't make a mistake, I goofed. I should have said in Ontario and in a lot of provinces. Alberta has about the lowest fees going for setting up an incorporated non profit. I wish we had fees that low. I just finished helping incorporating a non profit(charity) in Ontario and between name searches and Ontario fees for our letters of patent it was over $500 before we paid any legal fees.

                    Sorry to get you worried and good luck getting your group going. Take Care. paul m
                    "Alone we can do so little;
                    Together we can do so much"
                    Helen Keller

                    Comment


                      #25
                      Hi,

                      I did openly talk about my illness during a TED and have gotten only positive reactions so far. If there were any discomfort, I did not feel it.

                      Comment


                        #26
                        Hello PJane92. I'm glad that it went well for you.Take Care. paul m
                        "Alone we can do so little;
                        Together we can do so much"
                        Helen Keller

                        Comment


                          #27
                          Hello, I have posted an update here. How to protect my family

                          Comment

                          Working...
                          X