I have reached a monumental decision in all of this. I am going to proactively out myself ...

[BlueStreak]

4. And it is a continuum in most cases

Pancreatic cancer either is or isn't there. You either have a heart attack or you don't. Mental conditions, in most cases, are a question of extremes. We all have a range of emotions. We all have some things we are mentally better at than other things. Variation is normal. That's what makes this a difficult field. How do you know when a condition is beyond a normal range?

The professionals in the field are able to determine that, but most of us aren't trained to know these things. I believe that is what caused the stigma of "mental illness". That is such a vague term, and in many cases, it is that a person is only somewhat out of what we would call the normal range. In other cases, the results are very severe.

We see the same things with dyslexia, attention disorder, or autism. In many cases it is only slightly out of the "normal" range, or a person may not demonstrate the symptoms in obvious ways. So some people tend to think these diagnoses are exaggerated or made up, even though they may be very real for the person experiencing them.

I guess what I am saying is that many people still attach a stigma, but I think most people are coming to understand these can be real conditions that need real care. And I bet everyone close to you will want to make sure you are getting all the care you need to deal with this.