Relationships with Others
Your bleeding disorder usually should not interfere with your social life. If you need to stay home, call your friends or invite them over. Try not to shut out other people, even when your life is not going smoothly. Building good relationships means sharing rough times as well as good times.
The people who truly want to share your life may not know how. They may be genuinely caring and willing to learn about and accept your bleeding disorder. You can help educate them by sharing what you know and being willing to answer questions. Your treatment center can give you written information about your bleeding disorder. The HTC nurse or social worker can help educate your friends.
Telling other people about your bleeding disorder
Whether or not to tell other people that you have a bleeding disorder is a personal decision. You decide whether, when, and how much to discuss. What you tell will depend on how long you have known someone and how close you are. Most people know very little about bleeding disorders and will appreciate your teaching them. If you have visible bruising, people may be concerned that you are being physically abused. Recognize that they are trying to help. Anticipate that this will happen at some point and have an answer ready. This will make it easier for you to respond appropriately when it happens. It may be easier to explain your bleeding disorder a little bit at a time. If you think you need help explaining it, ask one of the staff at your HTC to talk to others with you.
The reaction you get when you tell someone you have a bleeding disorder will depend in part on how you express yourself. Therefore, it will help if you pick the right moment and convey the right attitude. If you explain your bleeding disorder with a positive approach, you are less likely to get a negative reaction.
Although telling others that you have a bleeding disorder is more often helpful than harmful, some people will over-react no matter what you say or do. Some people will withdraw from you out of irrational fears. You may be unable to ease the situation. If so, remind yourself that you are not the one being unreasonable. You may be better off without someone who is.