This.^^ I too lost my career to bipolar as well as physical health issues. I remember being fearful of that possibility as far back as my student nurse days; actually, I think I always knew on some level that I'd lose it all one day. I did have a hard time accepting it, especially when I went on disability and in the early months after I started getting payments.

As much as I knew I needed them, the fact that the government agreed with me that I was too sick to work was kind of a shocker. You have to be in pretty bad shape to get SSDI. I'm still in bad enough shape that they decided not to review my case this year even though it was due. All I had to do was fill out their form and add some comments outlining the difficulties I still have, and they said OK, we don't need to go any further with this. Ironically enough, I was manic and wrote a whole extra page about my problems (arthritis, unable to stand and walk for more than a few minutes, short-term memory loss and difficulties with attention span and word-finding). I guess I sounded pretty pitiful. But I'm doing pretty well within the limitations imposed on me by my body and mind.