anonymous blogging

I did. It helped until a private investigator was able to link it back to me. Fortunately no damage done, but still....

I am over my fear of that. When I started talking about it, in every group or with every person someone was like "my uncle has bipolar" and want to learn a little more about it. I have never been treated badly because of someone knowing my diagnoses.

Maybe I'm lucky?

Don't let fear hold you back. If you need to talk about it, find a safe place to talk. This is a great place, there is likely a NAMI group in your area. A therapist helps, and so does a close friend.

I think it is smart to have a support system that knows. Family, friends, maybe neighbors. Other than that, you will have to use your judgement about who else to tell.

Everyone I work with knows. That has backfired badly for some people here. My fiance is my employer. I get effective accomodations because he has a good understanding of how different little things affect me. He wanted to keep it a secret, but early last year the side effects from medication were really rough and it was affecting everyone else. After letting people know about the side effects, being clear that my dog comes to work with me because he is a service dog, there was less tension. 2 of my 4 coworkers have their own mental health struggles.

You're not wrong to want privacy. But you don't know how much support you'll receive if you don't open up a little.

I would guess from what I've read here that family are the most judgemental and darning of any group of people you could tell about it.