To tell or not to tell.

Today, mental health professionals who live with psychiatric disorders share the pros and cons of self-disclosure.

Welcome to the Carlet Psychiatry podcast, keeping psychiatry honest since 2003.

I'm Chris Sagan, the editor-in-chief of the Carlat Psychiatry Report.

And I'm Kelly Newsom, a psych MP and a dedicated reader of every issue.

Self-disclosure is like the plazapine of psychotherapy.

When it's done poorly, it breaks down the boundaries that keep treatment safe.

Self-disclosure can make us look biased or like the treatment is all about us.

But when it's done well, it can break down walls of self-stigma, shame, and mistrust.

Our own stories can build connection and hope and help patients see us as human.

And when the disclosure is about our own mental struggles, that clausapine is even stronger in both directions.

I think of a time in my first year of practice when I met with a patient who was floridly

psychotic, pacing the room, talking to himself.

His parents were there too, and we all were working to get him to accept hospitalization.

Nothing I said even caught his attention.

He seemed totally disconnected. So I took a risk and said to him,

this is a hospital that I trust. I've taken my own family there when they've needed inpatient care.

He stopped pacing, pulled himself together, and gave me a sharp look.

That's a little more information than I'd like to know, Dr. Aiken, and he went right back into his inner rambling.

This year, we put out a call for clinicians with psychiatric disorders to share their stories.

And on the issue of self-disclosure, our respondents were 50-50 split.

Some have laid down the gauntlet, making their diagnosis known to nearly all through social

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