I haven't had much evidence that anyone has ever considered me mentally ill. Even when I've told others that I suffer from recurrent major depression. As long as I meet basic responsibilities, I haven't felt like anyone was judging me.

When I was in a partial hospitalization program, I felt the staff were very judgemental in their attitude toward me, which was very negative.

I have a sibling who's been very judgemental. She has said, "I have plenty of things I could get depressed about, if I let myself."

I have experienced people being judgemental about my behavior when I've been depressed. When I've been in bed too much, and been weepy, I've found that people around me have acted disgusted and have said I should just pull myself together. I've been told that I'm "weak."

Mostly, the message I've gotten has been, "Get it together because there is nothing wrong with you."

I guess the only "stigma" I've ever dealt with has been being considered some kind of a fraud. That's pretty bad in its own way.

I don't go around trying to use my diagnosis as an excuse for anything. And it seems I wouldn't get far, if I did.