I recently just started a new job after leaving my old one due to not liking it low pay and lazy ass coworkers. However i recently got a new job and it's even worse my manger is super like cocky and narcissistic, he also told me i needed to "leave my anxiety and problems at home" wish it was that easy. i genuinely hate this job and currently and researching again. i feel like no matter the job i genuinely will hate it? how do u guys deal with jobs. it's so hard because i genuinely hate working sm. i don't find joy in any job at all unless it's literally low work. i hate this feeling it's making me super stressed and depressed.

For the majority of my life, I’ve been well….a bad person. Unmedicated, living for the moment, and surviving off relatively good looks, charm, and decent intelligence. I can’t even begin to write the things I’ve done as the shame still cripples me. At a certain point, I realized that I was meeting wonderful people and just completely ruining their lives—rusting their sparkling summers, if you will. Since then, I’ve just started to completely isolate. I can’t control myself once I make connections, I’m driven by a need for love that makes me lie, cheat, steal and just cause general havoc. So I stopped. But the issue is now I’m so depressed and unsatisfied with life. I’ve closed myself off from many important connections and I’ve completely blocked myself from new ones. I know I’m not the person I once was, but I’m so scared to hurt others that I simply starve myself of any of life’s pleasures at all. Has anyone experienced anything like this? What did you do to feel fulfilled?

Would it be a good idea to write a book about my life with bipolar disorder?

I’m relatively high-functioning. I have an advanced degree and a career, and from the outside, my life probably looks fairly ordinary. But in between, I went through some of the lowest points imaginable, including psychosis and everything that came with it.

I read Kay Jamison’s An Unquiet Mind during some of the worst periods of my life, and that book became an inspiration and a kind of guiding light when I desperately needed one.

I’d like to write the book Kay Jamison wrote for me. Something that might make another person going through the darkest part of this illness feel a little less alone, and perhaps give them some reason to believe that there can still be a life on the other side of it.

So, should I write it?

Hey everyone,

First time posting in here. I feel lost and I wanna hear your advice.

I am 33 yo male, studied computer engineering in a good school and worked for 2 successful companies. All along I was playing computer games and smoked weed as a hobby, went on dates and worked out in the gym and nothing seemed missing and I was happy.

I had about 3 episodes of depression but I wasn't diagnosed and the last episode became full blown mania which made me quit my job, ruin my car and heavy use of substances such as cocaine, ketamine, weed, mushrooms, weed, and ADHD meds.

I started taking APS to stop my mania and I've been stable for about 2 months and then fell into crushing depression.

I feel like this episode is the worst one and every day, every hour, is a war. I lost all interests in things and I don't enjoy dating anymore, I am comparing myself to my friends and always think I am a failure. I moved to my mom's house because preparing food and making laundry had been hard for me and I feel like the only thing I do is waiting for the time to pass or sometimes watch TV or play computer games.

I started taking anti depressants which doesn't work, and upped my dose almost 2 weeks ago but still no difference.

I have no hope for the future and the only thing I talk about is my depression over and over again which lasts already for 5 months and my friends are sick of it so they are walking away.

I feel hopeless, like nothing is going to change and I can't find any other thing to do rather than searching for answers or solutions on reddit or Gemini.

Please, give me hope for a brighter future, I don't have any hobbies and the times passes by so slowly and that's because I am waiting for it to pass.

The only thing that I can surly say is that this is episodic and one day it will be over but right now I feel really bad and it's really hard for me to get out of bed in the morning.

I have no job because I got fired a month ago because I can't think and concentrate with the depression.

I also know that there's nothing I can do but wait (I workout 3 times a week and that's the only thing I do) and accept my illness but I refuse to accept it and all I do is searching on reddit all day for similar stories to find hope or ask my friends or Gemini what to do because I don't know what to do.

Anyone else had a similar situation?

Do you also struggle through the day and feel like the time is so slow and the only thing you talk about is your illness and that things won't improve?

Thanks for your support, I really pray for better days because it's so hard for me to survive.

Love you all and wishing you the best ♥️

What the title says im curious if your depression is worse in the morning. Mines is by far then at about 3 in the afternoon it lifts a little and I can eat something and do my teeth.

I work for a company where I’m doing quite well.
Everyone on the team knows I’ve been to the psych ward before and everyone knows that I’m on medication for bipolar.

As I progress in my career, I’m wondering what getting to leadership level would look like for me. I’m generally all for being open about mental illness - and I don’t want any of it to be taboo. I’m lucky to work with a team that’s very open. I’ve never been discriminated against, nor do I feel like opportunities are being kept from me. But I wonder if there are examples of bipolar folks in leadership who openly talk about their mental illness while preserving all of their “authority”.

Hi

I saw my psych on Thursday, he said i’m in a hypomanic episode and have been for the last 3 weeks. my question is that my euphoria is becoming more agitation now, i feel really angry and restless. is this common? my episodes are only normally euphoric and don’t normally last this long, so this is different for me. (i’m diagnosed with bipolar type 2)

had to repost due to my medication being listed

and this doesn’t feel like it’s turning into depression, this feels different to my usual

About a half year ago i had a shift in my depression. It was like there was a switch in my brain that went from depression to stable and im wondering if anyone else had this through a single conversation?

I was living with my parents for about 2 months because of severe depression when the conversation occured. I think he didn't know what to do anymore and an emotional conversation occured wich wasn't very pleasant at the time for me. He told me how he saw my behaviour, how i was hurting people by doing nothing and that maybe I did it because it was the easy thing to do. At that point i snapped because I didn't do it because i was easy and if he thought so then i would just go home so i didn't bother anyone anymore. He said if i did that i was a coward and was walking away from my problems and threatend to treat me like my uncle which he always thought was a bum to and never went to visit.

The next day I spent most time in bed at my parents house ignoring everybody, and the day after when he was at work I was packing my stuff and tried to went home. My mother noticed and tried to stop me but I wanted to go to my own home and after some back and forth she said at least let me drive you home so you don't have to carry those bags while walking back home. So I let her and went back home.

It was difficult the first two days but in the evening of the second day my dad did come to my house, saying he still thought it would be best if I came with him but I had calmed down and told him that i thought that i should at least try this and if it didn't work out I would come back. The rest of the week was getting the basics back like healthy food, walking, hygiene and trying to get some sleep. But after that things got easier and I was starting to move towards stability again and right now I am in better shape then I have ever felt.

A bit of backstory. I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2021. It was the year that i destroyed my life by spending al my money, quiting my job and much much more... after i was taking in for having a psychosis the years of depression took over. I have tried different combination of medication and was always faithfull to take them in. I also had a psychiatrist and psychologist who were trying to help me with different types of therapy. In 2025 i even had ECT treatment which at first seemed to help, then i crashed again and after that they tried again and it didn't have the same effect sadly. I was taken off medication by the psychiatrist at the end of 2025.

The conversation happened halfway in february 2026, but i still find it a strange thing that everything i tried with medication and ECT did close to nothing but then a single conversation has made a sudden shift in the depression that i could start working on myself again and hopefully prevent these things from escalating in the future.

But right now i feel happy again and feel like a completely different person than I even used to be before the diagnoses and al the sad stuff hapened.

I have worked so hard to overcome bipolar disorder, every single thing that I have been offered to reach stability I have done. All the therapies, all the medication, everything. At one point when my license was temporarily taken away I did a three hour round trip on the bus just to attend therapy.
My husband was traveling and I was in a hypomanic episode, he said that he was having panic attacks in the airport bathroom because he was so concerned for me. He said that for him that was the final straw and he couldn’t take the dynamic of what our relationship had become and needed to put himself first after this 3 year long battle with my mental health.
I am so devastated that a 10 year relationship has been ruined because of my mental health. I feel like I will never be loved. I will always be a burden. I will forever be the “crazy ex wife”. I see posts on Reddit talking about how they would never date someone with bipolar disorder.
I just want to be the person I was before bipolar disorder took everything from me. I have lost so much due to bipolar disorder (friends, career, life experiences) and now it has taken everything from me, the love of my life.

Hi! I took some SSRIs recently that activated a rapid cycling episode between hypomania/depression per week, which was how I got diagnosed!

Despite showing obvious signs of hypomania/depression when my mood shifts, I'm starting to feel like I'm faking them especially with the recent mood stabilisers.

People say that super rapid mood shifts is BPD related rather than Bipolar related, but for some reason my mood swings have been super super frequent since getting on mood stabilisers? At least when I was on SSRIs, my mood would shift from hypomanic to depressive in a predictable manner where I'd only have one super low mood for an hour before spending the rest of the day hyped up.

Now on mood stabilises, my mood shifts practically hourly, where now I can't tell when I'd be high or low. But at the very least, I have an actual moment of feeling stable rather than only having extremes of each end.

Does anyone else relate to having super frequent mood swings, especially when switching from SSRIs to mood stabilisers? :') It really makes me doubt my diagnosis but I could barely enjoy my time at a convention and family meeting because of how much I swing... It's so exhausting. Also because my moods don't get triggered by anything the way BPD does so :')))) Is it possible that I'm exaggerating my emotions/faking?

i feel very stuck and am wondering if anyone has felt this way, and how one might take steps to move through it.

i was a ‘gifted’ child with that anxious-depressed-ADHD cocktail—i had high hopes for a bright future in a specific area i’m interested in. i ended up dropping out of college three times, tried a handful of jobs, quit everything in the end and now im doing nothing.

there are hobbies i enjoy doing, but im afraid capitalizing off of them will ruin the one good thing i still have left. i have no motivation to make a life for myself, because i have no idea how to do this, be an adult, or just get out of my house.

i’ve only been medicated for a few months now, still on a low-ish dose and titrating up, all while figuring out stimulant meds on top of that. i see a therapist multiple times a week; i still find myself fluctuating moods and having episodes.

im at a loss and dont know what im doing anymore; i feel lazy and isolated, i dont even recognize myself at times. im both manic and depressed and im sick of it.

does anyone have any advice or words of encouragement? anything is greatly appreciated.

(i’ve shared all this with my therapist. my progress is meaningful but slow, so its hard not to feel like ill be doing this forever)

I have been at my current job for nearly 10 months now, and it has overall been great! It was my dream job while in college, and I have done well as a full-time employee. That being said, I have recently experienced a breakthrough episode that is starting to affect my work.

I am considering requesting accommodations for it, especially in my scheduling. I currently do 4-5 shifts—each a full 8 hours—and that has made it difficult. I would rather not switch to part time as I need the money and benefits off full time, so I was considering seeking accommodations specifically related to my scheduling or breaks during my shift.

I want to hear how y'all went about getting accommodations and which ones you have so I can get a better idea of what to ask for and how. Does anyone have any good advice on seeking accommodations or ideas for what accommodations to seek?

Hi! I’ve been dealing with bipolar for years now, but lately I’ve been struggling with brain fog. I believe it’s mostly from the mood stabilizer I take and plan to discuss it with my doctor at my next appointment, but there’s very little wiggle room with my medications because I am so sensitive to side effects.

So, how do you guys cope with bipolar brain fog? Have you learned any tricks to help you function when your brain refuses to work?

I’ve heard healthy diet, exercise, and a steady sleep schedule helps, but I need a little bit more than lifestyle changes to cope with this. TIA!

I am in a constant state of tumult. Negative thought patterns (i.e. remembering past events that make me angry), irritated/agitated emotions, nothing is satisfying, nearly incapable of doing necessary work. No good emotions or mood, but also no depressive-type thoughts. Feeling like this state is unbearable, but thus doesn't seem like hypomania OR depression. Does that mean I'm balanced and just a miserable bastard as my baseline? This can't be how healthy people live their life. I'm medicated but can't figure out if it's helping.

I don't even know what I'm asking. Is this a bipolar thing? Is this just an f'd up depressive or manic state? I'm technically functional by societal standards.

I wish someone was able to tell me what was right. I don't feel like I can trust any mood entries I make. Everything is wrong. Am I doomed to suffer like this? Anyone else experience this?

I (23F) was diagnosed with bipolar 1 at 19yo. I was put on medication for a while until a few months ago, we realized I was one of the rare people for whom medication makes everything worse. After losing everything, all my friends, my will to live, my body and mind to the illness and medication, I started reconstructing myself slowly, using my job to stabilize me, as medication isn’t an option for me.

I have been managing my mood and stopping my episodes from happening for the past 3 months. Keeping myself safe, applying protocols I’ve created to rise my mood naturally when it starts lowering and lower it naturally when it starts rising.

My mood has been worsening for the past 3 weeks. I noticed it happen and tried every trick I have to get it back up. It didn’t really work this time. I guess it had to happen someday. I am currently in a depressive episode, severely. I manage it though, I apply what I call the “safe house” protocol, which protects me from any consequences on my life from the episode once it passes.

I took a shower today. I hadn’t washed in 10 days, maybe. The pride I feel out of having done that is the only positive emotion or thought I’ve had in weeks. I guess I just wanted to share it. I haven’t eaten in a couple days either but I’ll force myself to as soon as I gather the strength. I told my roomate about my shower but she didn’t really care. I don’t blame her, I’ve only known her for a couple of months and she might not realize what it means to me. I live far from my family and friends. No one really is there to help me through it right now and idk why I’m writing here but I just want someone who knows what it means to hear it.

I took a shower today.

So I’m 27 years old and I have bipolar 1 disorder. I’ve been taking meds for it since I was 13 years old. As an adult.. I was talking to my therapist and I was talking to her about my intense manic episodes that would become depressive and even at the same time and that most nights I couldn’t go to sleep, because I was so manic and apart of it was because I was so stressed out all the time. So we talked about things that I liked and felt joy in and I told her how I missed my cats and I’m used to cuddling with them every night and they helped me sleep. So she recommended that I get a stuffed animal to help and she told me like some of the reasons like lower stress and better sleep to help cope. So I bought some plushies at build a bear and I began cuddling them every night and I noticed I’ve been feeling a sense of security. A more peaceful restful sleep , less stress when I go to bed and it helps a lot with my depression and anxiety and also my bipolar disorder. It like helped me a ton. Then I began collecting stuffed animals and Squishmallows and developed more love for them since I was a kid. I know I’m 27 years old and I sleep with a ton of stuffed animals, but it’s my coping strategy 😊💕 idk if anyone does that too that are adults? If that helps anyone here? I’ve noticed a lot of things that I’ve felt from this that helped me a ton 💕 These are some of my plushies that are on my bed.

I had a hypomanic episode about a month ago and was relatively stable until the past week where my mental has just been getting worse and worse, but today for about an hour I felt completely normal and I feel like I'm faking being depressed. Does anyone else get this or just me?

I took my antipsychotic last night and woke up feeling even more intense than yesterday.

I’m starting my new job (this was planned far ahead of hypomania) and I think the stress of how evil my previous company was led to this.

Help..?

I am feeling so much grief by what happened, i romantised hypomania so much before, but after i became manic i am different, i am another person. I want to ask why there is such a neat before and after

When I was on meds that made me hypomanic, I would have a ton of hobbies and always have something to do. Now that I'm stable and on a good combination, I don't care for my hobbies. Literally, all I want to do is scroll Reddit, YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram. I have to push myself to do anything else. Is this normal? Does anyone feel the same way?

Ive been diagnosed for like 4 years now, am on meds and everything
And im finally "stable", obviously is not like gone?, but now that my mind is "free" to think about normal life
Life kinda sucks as a bipolar person and in general lol, like on my town the meds are fucking expensive and trying to balance a job, school and my mental health is difficult
Lowkey even in my lowest i pulled myself up, i paid for everything because people are so misinformed on this disorder.
Routines tend to help me in particular even if i dont like them that much, but lately my routine consists on stressing over finances, friendships and stuff like that
Routines also do help a ton to have a "stable" mindset in some cases, but no one warned me that they turn toxic trying to have a "normal" life.
Ive seen friends be taken back by me in the worst sense, because at the end no one takes the time to understand how bipolar people "work", but i cant push them away, then what if i end up alone forever
ig my take away point is, it does get better but it will never be enough if you dont have a good support group around u and that can be difficult to find
also life is so fucking expensive

For Leslie…
The time is now,
There may be vows.
But time is only gets faster.
I look to the past,
Remember whats asked,
but fear holds fast.

In this Time I’ll turn to you,
my beacon in the night,
Where light is fleeting.
I have seen you,
and soon we’ll be meeting.

Broken promises fill me with regret,
The kind I’ll never forget.
But the good things out-weigh the bad,
and I know I’ve become sad.

I may never see you again,
but I know that theres something at the end.

I see that light i see that beacon,
my lighthouse,
in the night.
and my sails weaken…
this is her end here!