Should I make my roommate aware of my depression, social anxiety, and odd behaviors caused by medication?
Part of me feels like it's my business and that I shouldn't have to tell them extremely personal things but I know the medication causes my eating habits to be extremely weird, mood swings, and on occasions, twitching. I feel that I would appreciate having some sort of warning if my roommate had issues that could affect behavior but I realize that my thoughts are not universal. What would be the proper action to take? #depression #dorms #anxiety-disorders #personal-development
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Theodore’s Answer
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Jenn’s Answer
Hi Carolyn,
This is really a personal decision, and there's no one best course of action. First, ask yourself: do you want to mention something to your roommate? If you'd prefer to keep it private, then keep it private - you are under no obligation to tell your roommate anything.
If you do want to tell your roommate something, then it's a matter of how open you want to be. Maybe you don't want to mention your eating habits, but you do want to mention the twitching. That's fine! Maybe you want to mention the mood swings, but don't want to mention medication. That's fine too (you can say that you sometimes have mood swings because of a medical condition that you're taking care of). Maybe you want to mention your social anxiety generally ("I get overwhelmed in large groups") but don't want to mention medication or a medical condition. That is also fine.
I'd think about what you want the outcome of disclosure to be for you - do you want your roommate to be more understanding of your eating habits, or limit guests to help minimize your social anxiety? Figuring that out can help guide you in what to say.