In some ways I've been where you are. I was a very successful digital electronics engineer and teacher. I retired from teaching in 2008 when I was diagnosed with bipolar 1. After that I tried to work at several jobs including installing all things electrical in Chris Craft boats and METI, the company that makes the mannequins used for practice by medical students. Neither job nor any pissant job I could dig up after that worked out. At Chris Craft the person charged with doing the wiring diagrams for me to follow frequently got it wrong and was downright threatening and abusive. In the case of METI, well...mania reared its ugly head for weeks on end. I remember at one point I'm deeply ashamed to admit I put a small American flag in the urethra of the mannequin I was repairing.

I'm fortunate that my husband supports the family alone now. He does industrial robotics. I am now on disability and even then it took two denials and an appeal that required an attorney and a trip to court. The judge granted my petition on the spot which my attorney said is extremely rare. Usually it takes six weeks or more.

My advice to you is plan for the worst and hope for the best. If you are the sole support for your family, you might consider having your wife start if for no other reason, to stash the cash.


This disease destroyed my ability to do what I love most. In 1983, I didn't break the glass ceiling, I effin' C4'd it. I was the only female in the school. I was a high school electronics teacher and Technology Student Association Advisor and Coordinator. It crushes my soul that I am now a shell of my former self. I've done everything right. Meds, therapies, hospitals, etc. etc. etc. Nothing.