Let me guess: you're not in the habit of telling people that you have been diagnosed with a mental illness. I mean, if you have to you do, but if you don't have to you don't. But do you keep your lips sealed because you're smart or because you're prejudiced against yourself?

If it's because you're smart, you keep the news to yourself because:

• as far as most people are concerned, it's none of their business.

• it's not smart to lay yourself wide open to prejudiced people, and there are a lot of prejudiced people.

• diagnosis only gave you a label anyway, a label that's meaningless to anybody but psychiatrists and psychologists.

If you keep your lips sealed because you're prejudiced against yourself, maybe it's because you took your diagnosis as an insult. Many people see consumers as some subhuman species, with no consciences, no self-control, no ability to truly love. A horrible stereotype, and totally false, of course. After they are diagnosed, bipolars can despise themselves for weeks until they realize the truth.

They are prejudiced against themselves. Prejudiced people think in terms of two categories: mentally "ill" people who are illogical thinkers and potential killers, and "the rest of us" mentally "healthy" people who have "strong" minds and can completely control our thoughts and emotions.

Prejudiced people could not be further from the truth.  The truth is that there is no "us vs. them."  People who were once diagnosed but have rehabilitated are not sick in any way. There is no person in this world who has completely logical thinking or can completely control their thoughts and emotions. Anybody who is not comatose is a "potential" killer. And what in heck does "strong mind" mean?

There is only one category: human beings. Decades ago, Shakespeare knew that.  All of us have basically the same dreams and desires, and we all make the same kinds of mistakes trying to fulfill them. We are all able to love deeply and with all our hearts, providing we are willing to let ourselves take that risk.

Before you were diagnosed, you were a beautiful, loving person. Now that you have been diagnosed, you are still that exact same person, with the same set of moral standards, the same intelligence, skills, everything.

Never let anyone convince you otherwise.

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