What do you do for work? Do people know you have a mental illness? How do you manage to get through each day? How many jobs have you had? Have you ever lost a job because of this illness?

I’m a high school teacher. I was diagnosed at the end of last school year but didn’t believe it till the summer. I was able to function and keep teaching during the mania and hypomania... and for this semester so far since August, I’ve been teaching while depressed and with insomnia. I basically fake like I’m ok and I make it through each day. I force myself to get things done even though I don’t have any interest in my job anymore. It’s sad because I’ve always loved teaching. This is my 10th year. I always planned on retiring as a teacher. Now I just hope to get through one day at a time. I am proud of myself for making it this long, but still worried about how long I can continue. I don’t know what other job I could possibly do. I don’t know if I’d be happy doing anything else and I definitely don’t think I could make as much money if I tried to find something else. Nobody can take care of me if I quit, so I keep going. I’m hoping one day I will be stable enough and my love for teaching will return.