Posted by Bubbaleh on January 5, 2004, at 6:04:36
In reply to Re: Feeling Left Out, posted by kara lynne on January 5, 2004, at 1:52:45
Dear Kara Lynn and Jeff,
Thank you for responding to my post.
Jeff, you are right that I am secretive about my illness; I have tried to reveal it to people, and have found that they distance themselves from me. I think your figure of 60% of people accepting those with brain diseases is on the high side. In my experience, 10% of people are accepting of those with brain diseases. And as you know, 17% of everyone suffers from severe depression sometime in their life. I.e., alot of people with brain diseases do not accept people whose diagnosis is more severe than theirs. But, maybe I do not have the luxury of hiding my illness if I am to build genuine, honest, long-term friendships. I will discuss the question with my "trusted advisor" (my therapist).
Kara Lynn, I am sorry you are isolated too, even more than me. Like you, I have found bulletin boards on the Internet to be lifesavers--not just this one, but also two others that speak to issues I have. I used to be overweight, so I post on the Weight Watchers site (www.weightwatchers.com), and I am suffering from a physical problem in addition to my psychiatric problem, so I post on a site devoted to that issue. If you have AOL, they have chat rooms where you can "talk" online. I haven't yet found one that appeals to me, but feel hopeful about that possibility.
I thoroughly agree that contact can come from unexpected sources. I am an acquaintance with a grocery check-out clerk at the local supermarket.
In case anyone else is reading this post who has tips on this topic, I would really appreciate your feedback, opinions, etc.
poster:Bubbaleh
thread:296467
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20031229/msgs/296612.html