Kirk, it scares the hell out of me to admit this in public -- something I never would have done a few years ago.  But God has given me the courage (at least in print) to tell the truth about my disease in hopes of educating the general public about emotional and mood disorders that are just as debilitating as cancer and diabetes.  In fact, many people are afraid of people like us because "we're crazy, and who knows what we'll do."  Lovely, huh.  An automatic stigma.
I'm tired of it, and you are, too.  And I simply can't admit it face-to-face in social situations, because I'm terrified of rejection.  But I've become willing to take a stand in this kind of format, because we tend to isolate, thinking we are all alone, and if only a few people who have misunderstood clinical depression gain compassion for us, it's worth it to me to risk criticism to gain some respect for people like you and me.