I'm a guy almost 30. Ever since my first hospitalization at 23, through the years I've seen myself straight away telling people I have this and that ("clinical depression and something like bipolar disorder but more severe" is the exact words I use).

This has brought some help to me. Troublesome people or people that can get me in trouble when psychotic or dissociated/spaced out are simply out of my life. Few honest people still around me.

Even though, there's this stigma I still feel. Everyone treats me at arm's length, despite the best of my intentions. And then there's the disease itself; mood swings, psychotic breaks when stressed, erratic behaviour, impulsivity being the symptoms that freak out regular people the most. In a sense I feel trapped. At some point till very recently I wanted to be a voice, because despite all of this, I've got a profession. Got accomplishment in many hobbies too. Just happen to be fucking crazy. If there's LGBTQ awareness and shit like that, why are we treated differently in the workplace, or in general by society? That's something that won't ever change.

My perspective might be radical different from yours; I'm a guy, I'm an addict and I got psychotic symptoms, which many of you are guaranteed to have but don't seem to notice. In my case, they're "more noticeable".