To Tell or Not to Tell, that is the question!

So, if you do have a mental illness such as schizophrenia, major depressive disorder or bipolar, whom do you tell about it?

The fewer people who know, the better, I say. The people who know that I have schizophrenia are my family, or support system and a few colleagues at work. Don't get the wrong idea, though. It is very important to reach out when you need help. Just remember to reach out to the "right" people. Your psychiatrist can be someone whom you reach out to with issues if they reach a stage of crisis (or if you just need a medication adjustment). I reach out to my family in times where I need to "talk myself down from the ledge," as my mother calls it.

What do I mean by talking yourself down from the ledge? Well, sometimes, as people with mental illness, we get very sensitive to our damaging thoughts and emotions that go through our head. At this point, we need to reach out to someone in our support system, like a close friend or family member, to get help.

Well, what if you do not have a support system? Then it is very important that you acquire an emergency number of a counselor, psychiatrist, or a member of a support group that you attend meetings with (such as schizophrenics anonymous). This person should act as a catalyst for your recovery.