How did you rebuild your life after a manic episode?
Recently diagnosed 29M and trying to rebuild my life after a manic episode seriously derailed my life.
Before everything happened, I was doing pretty well. I had spent about five years building a career in game development, had a solid salary, friends, family, and generally felt like I knew where my life was going.
During the episode, I lost relationships with family we weren't super close and they ended up turning on me which hurt a lot. Looking back I was not making the best decisions but they tried to make it much worse. I lost a lot of friends, burned down the career I’d built, damaged my professional reputation, and posted way too much of what was happening on social media and LinkedIn cause I guess I thought that was a good idea. Things eventually got bad enough that I was arrested as well.
I’m now working as a server with no idea what life looks like next. Things are much more stable, but going from having an established life and career to basically starting over at 29 has been a lot to process.
For those who had a manic episode seriously affect their career, relationships, finances, or reputation, what did rebuilding look like for you? Were you able to recover professionally or find success in a new career? Did relationships ever come back?
Mostly looking to hear from people who hit a pretty serious rock bottom and eventually built a good life again.
@SGold8556
Thank you for opening up and being so honest and vulnerable 💛
That takes strength.
And courage, to rebuild your life again.
And I hope someone who has gone through similar, might reach out to you 🥰
I genuinely wish you the best rebuilding!
I wish I could tell you I have some magic answers. But I am in the same boat to some extent. I am now in a debilitating depression while looking back at the chaos I caused when I was manic and the friendships I destroyed. You aren’t alone.
@avasonrisa
Hello Avasonrisa,
I am sorry to hear you are struggling. Perhaps if you look over the response I gave SGold you might also find something that may help, I do hope so.
Namaste,
D.
(Listener at 7 Cups of Tea)
@SGold8556
My dear SGold, I experienced EXACTLY that in 1999, it got worse until, in early 2000, I was diagnosed with Bi-Polar Type II Affective Disorder with attendant Generalised Anxiety Disorder. (F33.1 on the American Psychiatric Assoc. Listings of Mental health disorders.)
I was a Warehouse manager at the time and that crumbled. I had a family, a partner and three kids, that fell apart until I was alone, living on my own and not working. There it was, rock bottom.
I will tell you one thing, one very important thing about it, I CAME BACK from that and YOU CAN TOO. It's a fact. The trick is learning to manage, cope and minimise the ongoing effects and/or the fall out from your episode. This is a time in your life when you re-prioritise, you discover what's REALLY important to you and what you have to give still.
I won't lie to you, it's NOT an easy road but nothing ever worth having was gained without some effort.
I have a side project going here, it's kind of like a "Journal/Guide Book" that chronicles my journey so far.
If you're interested you can find it by searching the community for "Struggles, efforts and victories" by DireWolf... (hey, that's me! LOL) It is not "required reading with an exam to follow" it's something of a resource that you can take from as you please. It is my hope it may help. It demonstrates many of the methods and practices I used to stage a comeback.
It is my hope you may find something useful in it. In the meantime be good to yourself, don't put too much pressure on yourself to achieve everything in record breaking time. Easy does it is the message.
(Listener at 7 Cups of Tea)
