Brite Haven

IP use to be a fairly popular and social guy throughout my life until I shared my diagnosis with my family and friends in 2009.  Having a mental illness in my culture is worse than being sinful it doesn't get much worse. When my family and relatives found out about my illness they abandoned me. My opinions and feeling became invalid because I was sick, possessed or incompetent. If I ever needed help in anyway way they would suggest I use a social service instead of having to deal with the issue with me.  All my friends but 2 disappeared and stopped contacting me, and hanging out with me. The isolation I felt made me very lonely, depressed, broken hearted and even suicidal. Now when I meet people I try not get to emotionally invested because true friendship is very rare.  I'm not sure if I can ever be close to anyone again in anyway. I was raised to believe that friends and family were in your life to support you in your darkness moments but that's wasn't the case for me.  Even now I have learned to keep ppl at a distance because if they knew I was mental ill they would abandon me. It is heartbreaking but the experience has made me independent, stong and more resilient than I ever dreamed.  It taught me that only god can love you unconditionally and perhaps very few other ppl, if you're very luck.