Telling S.O. You Have Bipolar

Any advice for breaking it to your girlfriend that you have bipolar? Should you do it at all and how long should you wait? No guarantees they will want to stay with you but hopefully they are understanding and respectful.

"I accept my personality flaws for without them I would have no personality at all"

mbk734 wrote:Any advice for breaking it to your girlfriend that you have bipolar? Should you do it at all and how long should you wait? No guarantees they will want to stay with you but hopefully they are understanding and respectful.

"I accept my personality flaws for without them I would have no personality at all"

I think if you are in a serious relationship then you should tell her. She may notice that something is not quite right with your moods, and will most likely want to be supportive anyway, so let her in. If she shows signs that she may lack compassion in general, or has a great deal of stigma about mental illness, then I would be wary of disclosure and may even reconsider the relationship.

Usually a few months in is when I would do it, but it depends a great deal on how the relationship progresses and the individuals involved.

At the end of the day it's your gut instinct.

Early on in a relationship, I think for me it would depend on my displaying symptoms or not.
Later on, it is natural for people to share some of the more private details of their life.
If the two of you are moving towards something more permanent, it think it is necessary, and only fair that you tell them this significant detail of who you are.

Hope that helps.

I believe this is something to be shared later on in a relationship after you have known her for a decent amount of time and get a general understanding of her acceptance in her personality. That is just my opinion on the matter, though.

Difficult question as I think there is no right answer and it depends on so many factors about both of you. However I would think that a general guideline is that you tell if you think the relationship is going somewhere and you are starting to take things seriosuly with this person. Then it is only fair to tell them I think for both of your sakes - yours for support and hers for understanding and knowledge.

Cracked

I have issues with telling someone I'm dating that bipolar. I don't want them thinking I am crazy or will have meltdowns all the time. However, I do want someone to understand that I will have meltdowns. I do not want them leaving me. That's why I think it might be easier to tell the person early if the relationship becomes serious. Maybe too soon but hey better so they know what they are getting into.




http://bipolarkristen.blogspot.com

I told my last spouse on the first date I wanted him to know what he was getting into. At the time I didn't know it was called bipolar so described my symptoms to him and said I was receiving help for them. We are now married I wanted to be upfront to give him the chance to walk away if it sounded like too much.

I think its important to lay all your cards on the table before anything happens.

Here's my reasons...

1) if they have an aversion to bipolar, you're not wasting your time.

2) It might actually be beneficial for them to understand you, so if you do something strange, they wont walk out on you.

3) it opens up the conversation for the other person to lay all their cards down. honesty is the only thing that keeps relationships working.

4) If they have trauma related to bipolar, they need to know beforehand so they wont freak out.

5) if they dont like you for who and what you are, you're not wasting your time on them.