I worked from age 13 (along with high school and uni) until I had my first breakdown at age 22. From 22 to 29 I was in and out of work depending on my mental health...mostly not able to work. From 29 to 32 I worked full time and thrived until another breakdown and Fibromyalgia (chronic pain and fatigue) stopped me in my tracks. For the next four years I spent many months in hospital as I was extremely mentally unwell and a constant danger to myself. Then I began to study and at age 37 I went back to casual work which is what I have been doing for the last two years. I have had three months off in those two years due to hospitalisations but thankfully work has been accepting and I have kept my job. Right now I am the best I have been in 7 years but still fragile so I have to have a lot of downtime to stay relatively well. I study one or two units a semester and work about 14 hours a week. That is still all I can handle right now, a far cry from when I was working full-time as a Case Manager but still a big step forwards. I am hoping to start my own photography business in about a year, all going well. With Bipolar it is so hard to predict how well I will be in the future so i take it a day at a time.