Bipolar disorder, grad school, and work

Hello all, I'm new here, recently re-diagnosed with bipolar I disorder after some intense struggles, which involved three hospitalizations, a few trips to the ER, and a few suicide attempts in just under four months.

Now I am back at work part-time, and attending a partial hospitalization program part-time. I work in mental health, and love my job. Yet sometimes it can be difficult for me to focus on what needs to get done. Today, I was feeling very agitated and unfocused, and finally went home early. I am lucky in that I work at a very understanding workplace, and they know about what has been going on with me so are OK with me leaving early if need be.

But I wonder how I am going to fare in the long-term. How do you manage your disorder with working? I wish I could say that I'm much better than I was a few months ago, but I still have some struggles. I am definitely doing better, but I have a long way to go.

Also on the horizon for me is that I am starting a part-time graduate program in August. This program is geared towards working adults, so I will be able to work eventually full-time (I hope) while attending this program. But that involves even more stress, and more work I'll have to attend to while trying to attend to my own moods. Does anyone else do this? I hope so. I have a tendency to push myself very hard, and then lose it. But I don't want to do that here. I just want to balance work, school, and my issues in a sane way.

I'm on SSDI, so I guess you could say that I don't manage working very well :/

But I did want to say welcome. I'm glad that you're doing better than you were.

Welcome to PC

That's what SSDI is for. Honestly sometimes I wonder about my ability to work. If I didn't care so much about what I do, I would perhaps stop. But work can give me stability, which I need. It's such a difficult balance, though.

And thank you. I'm glad I'm doing better than how I was, too.

Thank you!