Lack of support from family/friends

[Providence]

I understand all to well how you all feel. People are often afraid of what they don't understand. People ask how you are doing, but I believe that many only want to hear that you're doing okay. They don't know how to deal with it if you say otherwise. I only shared my problems with people that I thought I could trust -like family and friends. In many cases, the responses were not as I would have wished - such as awkward silences, changes in subject, or lectures about how you shouldn't think that way. It's hard when people trivialize something that is the farthest thing from trivial in your own eyes. Thankfully, I met someone who had something similar to what I had, who understood me, and didn't judge me as weird - like I believed that everyone else did. She is now my wife and continually gives me much needed support, as I do her.