Can I keep my issues confidential? Who will find out?
Professionals such as therapists are required by law to maintain the confidentiality of their clients. That means they can’t tell others, including your parents, what you tell them during a therapy session. However, people who are “mandated reporters” (like those who work with children) are required by law to file a report when there is a risk of suicide, abuse, or self-harm.
What will people think? Should I tell everyone about my issues?
Worried that people will think you’re a drama queen? That they won’t take you seriously, or that they’ll think you’re crazy? Unfortunately, you could be right. There’s a lot of stigma out there because people just don’t understand that issues like depression, anxiety, other mental illness, and addictions are disorders of the brain—just like diabetes is a disorder of the body.
It’s up to you to decide what you want to share about what you’re going through. Some people like to speak out. Some people only share with their closest friends. Figure out who you want to share with, what you want to share, when, and where. If you feel like you’re ready to get active, to be an advocate and work for change and fight stigma, then check out one of these advocacy resources.
“You break a bone and it’s fine, but as soon as something’s wrong with your head, it’s like ‘whoa, you’re cuckoo.’ I wish I could be like, ‘you know, therapy yesterday was great’ to random people. Like: How was your day? ‘It was good, I went to therapy, got my stuff done, got my homework done,’ but you leave that part out because it’s scary.”
“When I first got started, I told everyone I had personal experience and what my diagnosis was anytime the topic of mental health came up. I wanted to be the brave person who makes it okay to talk about mental illness, but I was overdoing it.”
“One of my tricks is to appear as calm as possible, it keeps me in a better place, but then at some point just slip it into the conversation that I’m bipolar, because it really takes them off their feet. They’re like, ‘whoa, you don’t seem bipolar,’ and I’m like, ‘what does that mean?’ Try to poke at them a little bit, make them think about what they just said.”