“Don’t be ashamed and remember, you are NEVER alone.”

Share your stigma experience.

I once had a friend who use to throw my illness in my face all the time. Hence, the reason we are no longer friends. I am Bipolar and wrote a therapeutic book called Out of the Darkness, Samantha’s Story. Because of the stigma, I kept it under a pseudo author name. My book has helped many people and sharing my story has helped me erase the stigma I unfortunately, give to myself. I am much better now with meds and therapy but it is still a struggle every day.

How did you overcome this experience?

I confronted my friend and she apologized but kept throwing the illness back in my face. Regarding the stigma to myself, I have ACCEPTED it. It was VERY hard for me, but I did it with the support of doctors and friends.

Help others by sharing a brief, positive message.

Help is there, get it. Don’t be ashamed and remember, you are NEVER alone.