And NO volunteering is not an option....I have no car.

Dear Box,I get so sick of reading about all these famous people and how well their lives are so well balanced,and they never seem to have the everyday problems the rest of us suffer from...I suppose if we had scads of money,we could take "vacations" and get over our episodes?

I know many bipolar people probably do live OK lives...but in reality,I think the successful
Lawyer, DR type, they are few and far between

staying sane is the start of a new life. that's how i felt when i came out of the hospital. i went to the bookstore and couldn't find anything that gave me the answers i sought and so with the push of my hospital p-doc i wrote the book i was looking for. it's called Bipolar 101 and i suggest you take a look at it to see if it's what you're looking for.

the career issue is challenging and i've gone through a lot at work because of manic depression.

however, i hate to just plug a book but the reason i wrote the book 'Bipolar 101' was because i was like you trying to find a source for a way to manage my illness and my life so that i could stay sane. i even have a chapter on how to advocate for oneself at work, with loved ones etc. i really wrote the book so i could have a one-stop resource for myself.

information is great but what to do with it is another thing. Bipolar 101 provides you with tools to use the information it provides on nutrition, sleep, exercise, stress management, meds, therapy etc

So much of what you do in life is what you do for a living. I mean when you are young you are always asked "what do you wanna be when you grow up?"

I don't think any kid would respond by saying they would like to be on a disability pension and to have a type of mental illness.

you know i have wondered this same question and as far as i have ever gotten is just taking baby steps towards what i want in the long run. yes i have set backs and they suck and it is hard to start again, but start with something small and work up from there. i know the job thing is hard, i have the same problem, thats why for now i am just taking classes on the internet. something small to see if i can do it.

I have worked at the same Department store for 18 years..the only way I can stay on,is since I've been there for so long and it's all in long term memeory,and I feel safe there...unfortunately it seems the store may be closing...I wonder if the store closes,if there is anything else I can do?

I find what is so strange about BP is they say it doesn't develop until late teens early adulthood, which is definately what happened to me. I was such a normal happy kid, had plenty of friends and the rest of it...I was even able to build a career until it just got impossible by the time I was around 30. It wasn't until I started to become psychotic that it changed everything..I really was able to handle the mood swings..even tho the depression got bad at times I just kept fighting it.

Well its not like that now...if I fight it I do get psychotic..I really just have to roll with it.

I guess thats why work seems impossible...if I have an appointment the next day and it keeps me awake...I start getting sleep deprevation which I'm really sensitive too and can cause an episode too..

Fuck this..I am fucked really.

Well......no you are not fucked. I wasn't diagnosed until I was about 40. In my past I had about ---20 to 30 jobs. I did great in college with the structure but once that was gone --bye bye..anyway medication does help like you said....and all the other stuff. But you just have to go with it -unfortunately. I reach out a lot and talk with people. I am now going to go to counselling with the county because I can't afford other...just someone to listen...anyway I am on disability but I can make below 1,000/month to keep my disability. anyway feel your pain --:)

Fuck this..I am fucked really.

No youre not. Why dont you have a car? Dont you want one? Maybe you should set a goal to get one. This is what helped me.. I couldnt work so I made it my job to improve my lifestyle. If I needed a good car and I didnt have much money I bought an old one and fixed it myself.

The idea is you wanna feel like you are going somewhere in life. It really makes you feel good if you learn new skills too. It wont take long and your life will get better.

Yeah, I know what you mean about the job being the first thing people mention, which is totally backwards. You have to be healthy enough to work or else it's just a new deficit.

Is there anything that you really just LIKE to do a lot? Something you have liked to do since you were a kid? A hobby, something artistic, anything like that? I'm trying to get more into things that just interest me a whole lot, and it's slow going, but so far it's helping me feel like I have something to hang onto.

One thing that always pissed me off when it came to people pushing employment, is that they don't want to deal with the reality that if I keep on having short stints at jobs before I go off manic and run away, screw some stuff up and get fired, etc., one's work record gets muddier and muddier until the attempts you make to try and work backfire and no one wants you because your work history sucks.

And, I have come to that very conclusion myself---that there IS NO effective treatment for BP, there just isn't. Oddly, the MEDS are the most effective part of the treatment they offer, and it's so-so. But, all the rest of the stuff they're supposedly able to do for us? Crap. Just a bunch of bullshit, because they really don't know what this is, and they really aren't trying THAT hard to figure out how to prevent it from destroying us. Sorry. I hope I didn't make you feel worse, I just don't believe in sugar coating when I know that people are really screwing us over.

I feel ya on this, box. Big time.

I'll tell you what.
They just give you medicine and do not come close to preparing you for the great changes that are to come your way in life, in thinking, in everything.
A big change occurs from being bi-polar non-medicated to medicated.
Alot of shit occurs to you and in your life.
People look at you diffrently and think of you diffrently.
You think diffrently and see things in a diffrent light.
BIG CHANGES!
Instead they give you pills and just send you on your merry way.
Coping is something they miss the ball on.
It has taken me a year and a half from complete breakdown to just sort of get used to the change in me and how others would treat me.
Here is an example.....
My wife wants to divorce me and it is mostly because of me being bi-polar and her wanting to have a life away from a bi-polar person.
That is alot of stress to deal with and as you probably know stress raises bi-polar attributes.
OR
I was heavily religiously twanged out before meds and now after I want to stay away from it like the plague.
BIG CHANGES!
Being sick, misunderstood, and treated the way we get treated by people is not an easy life. We are already super sick and then get piled on!
So what is the answer....... ??????????
Maybe bi-polar communes.
We can all be sick and wacked out together.

if you can, ITS UP TO YOU to decide how you live your life...no-one can tell you how to do it. YOU can.

Jaybear, you said it better than I did, but I don't won't to discourage others.

With the right cocktail of meds and therapy, we aren't fucked...really.

The fact that there is no cure is boloney.

Easter bunny, santa clause and all that.

Jessy...

Yeah its up to me if I try real hard and get psychotic again...as sure as the sun will rise in the morning.

2deepthinker..

yes bigotery is the answer.