“I feel like if more people made themselves open to listening to my thoughts instead of judging them, it would’ve made a big difference.”

What kind of stigma did you experience/observe?

A lot of people didn’t really know how to deal with me after I was diagnosed.

Stigma story

When I was first diagnosed, I was a little bit relieved to know that it wasn’t just my imagination. But afterwards, I felt like I would use it an as excuse for my actions. My friends never knew how to deal with it either. They used to tell me to just “get over it,” or that sometimes I just have to be “happy.” It used to bother me that they had absolutely no idea what it was like. I’ve tried explaining it to everyone, but it was no use. I used to cut myself years ago, and I’ve tried suicide a couple times. To this day I don’t feel like I have enough people to talk to about it, but I know there’s hope!

What could someone have said/done to make it ok?

I feel like if more people made themselves open to listening to my thoughts instead of judging them, it would’ve made a big difference.