hello all - Bipolar Disorder Message Board

mayjk19 · 07-07-2009, 04:17 PM

It's great to find this site. I have been struggling with terrible depressions and medication induced manias for 7 years. This past August I had a complete manic episode with psychosis and dangerous behaviors..I was court mandated to 2 psych hospitals and had terrible experiences there (they are big fans of injecting patients who aren't 'calm enough'.) My doctor finally 'officially' diagnosed me with bipolar 1. My father is bipolar and has a closed head injury and my uncle is schizophrenic. I have a large family history of mood disorders on both sides of the family.
I'm slowly recovering from the hospitalizations, which were followed by a depression that almost caused me to take my life.
Now I am at a loss for what to do with my life. I'm only 21, so it is normal to feel overwhelmed by career options and the like, but the added stress of managing bipolar is causing me tons of anxiety.
What kind of job could I do when my concentration, personality and reliability are affected?
Just glad to have a place to vent and communicate with others who understand. I appreciate your openness and any advice you might have.
cheers
Mayra

cerajoan · 07-07-2009, 11:02 PM

Hi mayjk19. Yes, it is overwhelming, isn't it. My advise would to be to try and always put your mental health first. Take things easy. Find your pace. Bipolar forces us to figure out how to live with it. One thing that helps me is to try not to compare myself to how "regular" people do their lives. The more I pay attention to my needs, independent of how others lead their lives, the better I am at taking care of myself. And if I choose something and it doesn't work out, hey, I got experience, now I can go down a different road if I want. It's all about learning. You can get it wrong, get it right, it's just life. You don't have to be perfect. I think with bipolar, we have to learn to be very very kind to ourselves. Just some thoughts.

tigger5150 · 07-08-2009, 02:40 AM

I would have to agree with Cerajoan. I have had BP for over 20 years (only officially diagnosed about 10 years ago so I lost a lot of my life to the efffects of not being treated correctly)

I am a nurse which I found a good career choice as when my meds are working my concentration is pretty good and if I want I can be an agency nurse and work when I want to. Currently I'm not nursing and working in an office for a Drug company doing drug safety which requires concentration and reliability. About a year ago now I went into a very deep depression which caused hospitalisation and ECT treatments, and then 2 months later the same thing again. When I went in for hospitalisation 1 I finally told my boss about my condition. I have been VERY fortunate in that they have been very understanding and supportive..... you just don't find that everywhere. It's one of the reasons I stay (despite being extremely bored with the job) as opposed to going back to nursing.

Good luck... take it one day at a time!

irishwriter · 07-08-2009, 04:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mayjk19

It's great to find this site. I have been struggling with terrible depressions and medication induced manias for 7 years. This past August I had a complete manic episode with psychosis and dangerous behaviors..I was court mandated to 2 psych hospitals and had terrible experiences there (they are big fans of injecting patients who aren't 'calm enough'.) My doctor finally 'officially' diagnosed me with bipolar 1. My father is bipolar and has a closed head injury and my uncle is schizophrenic. I have a large family history of mood disorders on both sides of the family.
I'm slowly recovering from the hospitalizations, which were followed by a depression that almost caused me to take my life.
Now I am at a loss for what to do with my life. I'm only 21, so it is normal to feel overwhelmed by career options and the like, but the added stress of managing bipolar is causing me tons of anxiety.
What kind of job could I do when my concentration, personality and reliability are affected?
Just glad to have a place to vent and communicate with others who understand. I appreciate your openness and any advice you might have.
cheers
Mayra

welcome,mayra, the same options open to your friends can be open to you too with the right combo of psychiatrist,, therapist and meds. you are young enough to learn to deal with it at least with the positive attitude that is more prevalent today. it is anxiety inducing when you are first diagnosed but also a kind of relief that now you know what you are dealing with and can try the meds that will work for you. statistally today the younger you are when you get help the more successful the treatment is. do you like your current pdoc? as said, one of the most important things for you is to take it easy with yourself and try to have the patience to work with pdoc and know that you have the strength to survive this. glad you found this site as it is a fountain of wisdom for everyone to draw on when needed. there are many things that make us different from people who do not have to live with this illness but some of them are positive things so when your mind clears you could maybe write a list of all the things that you like about the influence of this disease in your life. take care.

iw

mayjk19 · 07-09-2009, 07:57 PM

It's so wonderful to hear from people who have been dealing with this for so long! I appreciate all of your wisdom and advice!
Thanks and we'll be in touch