revealing... oh so revealing

i think it's time to open up the question of "do i reveal my illness?" one more time. i recently told a work friend I have bi-polar disorder. that's not all, but as sort of a litmus, i let him know i had a form of mental illness. i didn't know if opening up would make me feel better, or stronger, but i did. well he told  a co-worker, and almost spilled the beans to other workers who would have surely told every living soul. now i haven't encountered any real stigmatization yet. it's been about 3-4 weeks since i told him. there were immediately jokes like "he's nuts", and wikipedia searches trying to figure out what Bi-Polar is, but I was able to take an attitude much like: go for it, i don't care. I guess today I feel better than someone knows outside my immediate circle, and that it hasn't really affected me. I'm still very cautious and even paranoid to tell people. Even telling someone I have depression doesn't go easy, but I'm opening up to the fact that people who know you aren't going to really reject you, I think. Yet it's also a matter of disclosure. If i revealed my true illness, Schizoaffective, and told them about some of my psychotic experiences the complexion might seriously change. All I'm saying is this was a test, and so far no ill effects. I hope to one day open up more, but not anytime soon. It'll take courage, but if one person can do it, so can the rest.