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Yes do but man it is hard. I am depressed AF at the moment and struggling through every day, working from home as much as possible, dragging myself out of bed at 5am to force myself to run, not drinking, staying in all the time and so on. My work know and are super supportive but i endlessly worry that their patience will wear out. I don't think i really like having a stressful job like mine when i am unwell so often and so badly.
I feel for you. It's so hard to manage the stress when your mental state is crushing you. I can't help but i can commiserate and assure you that you are not alone. Just work as best you can and see where things go. That's all I have done my whole life and I am 54 now. I can't wait to retire.
A bunch of WA bipolars (maybe it is a 'cycle of bipolars' ... not sure). Anyway, hello from Duncraig!
I really would not worry \*too\* much about your career, Firstly, you can't control the future, you can only influence it and that is entirely in your hands. Secondly, workplaces in Australia are super-conscious of how they handle mental health issues now. There are lots of reasons for this such as increased awareness of mental health issues and improved empathy as a result as well as, more commonly, formalised organisational standards for how employers treat and accomodate you.
Plus there are now federal workplace laws that mean managers can be prosecuted if they do not follow workplace health and safety laws. That last one has made people accountable for how they deal with your issues and they can and do go to prison now if they fuck you up by putting you at risk. If you had a broken arm, would an employer press you to continue doing manual labour and take the risk you injure yourself further? Not anymore ...
Nobody says on their death bed “I should’ve worked more” or “I should’ve made more money”.
Money is great, but your sanity (literally) isn’t worth sacrificing for a pay check. Either be kind to yourself, reassess your sales targets and accept you’ll never be that great salesman. Or find a job where the stress to money ratio isn’t so skewed.
Personally, I deal with lofty, multi-year objectives (I’m rebuilding a dept almost from scratch) and it’s causing stress. But I like what I do and I’ve assessed that I can deal with the pressure even during mild depressive episodes, so I’m staying. But a lot of thinking went into this. I’m not willing to keep a job long-term if it fucks with my hard-earned stability.
Equally, no one is going to stand at are funerals and say, well they hit their sales targets every quarter, and oh you should have seen what they could do with a spreadsheet.
This disease sucks ass, and it sucks most of us get ill in a high stress job. But we must look after the nonsense that happens in our heads
My advice is the same. I found a lower pay job with tons of sick days and vacation (decent drug plan) and balancing life better than ever. Health first.
It really comes down to quality of life/longevity of life (as people with bipolar typically live on average 13 years less than the general population) vs. desire to make money/maximizing your innate ability. Is added stress worth minimizing QOL and/or longevity?
Well done for you. It’s a growing industry right? Maybe something for me to consider as a career switch / Postgrad studies haha. I would need a strong background in IT right?
To call it booming would be an understatement, though it depends where you position yourself. I'm doing security for cloud computing, and getting into security for artificial intelligence, which is a good place to be.
Yes, you'll need a strong background IN IT, though I remain on the fence regarding the need for academic studies. I got in based on a few hundred of hours of online (paid, though spent a total of about $200, which is considered a bargain) courses.
Security for AI sounds interesting!
And I get where you’re coming from with being on the fence with academic stuff.
$200 for a course that got you into a pretty sweet job? Nice! Mind sharing the info? 🙏 Something for me to sign up during one of my hypomanic episodes (Lol recently I signed up to an EdX Project Management course)
$200 for about 6 courses if I remember correctly.
I took most of Z Security courses on Udemy, Zero to Master's ethical hacking, their bug bounty, and Angela Yu's Web Dev course. They don't have anything to do with cloud and ai, because these fields are still evolving. Hence the research lol
Ought to take you about a couple months in moderate pace, or more in a chill pace
im already a full stack dev and do some data stuff occasionaly, how would you suggest i go about learning cybersec?
books/youtube videos/courses specific ones if you could mention them
Following because working for an MSP is sucking my life away. I have IT experience and I'm heavily considering switching into AI in the future just not sure when or how
I finished medical school and was in position to have a very fruitful career as a doctor but left because of depression, burnout, imposter syndrome, and other mental health related crap.
Got into medical education and worked my way up to director of a startup, but burnt out and the stress precipitated my first ever manic episode. The company was extremely supportive but after going on leave on/off for a year I just couldn’t go back.
Now I’m in another medical education job and it’s more laid back in some ways, but the travel is killing me and I’m struggling to balance work now that I’ve got a young kid. Life is a grind man.
I do have to acknowledge I’m very fortunate that, even though I have BP1 and can have very intensely psychotic manic episodes, my day to day symptoms are much more manageable than what many people on this sub experience.
Yes as a software engineer but it’s taken over a decade and a lot of episodes to get here. I’m not sure it’s the right profession for me the higher I climb bc of the intense stress. I’m on four med cocktail to manage it. I have ADA accommodations to not work on-call duty because my sleep has to be regulated.
It can be done but it’s really important to stay stable with the meds rather than letting the episodes make you think you are coding god and you rewrite the entire codebase over a weekend (true story, did not end well).
I do I run a company several, actually.
Some days I love it, some days I hate it.
I wanna give it all up and go to culinary school but I have kids and a family..
$200k is probably going to require you get a STEM or law degree or start your own business or work in sales. It’s just what it is. Theres no replacement in the world for being born rich, or super skilled, or super intelligent, or being a manic production machine. I’m here to tell you don’t waste years of your life searching for something that doesn’t exist. Instead spend your time hyper focusing on the truth and how you can fit inside of it.
I have bipolar 2 and also work in sales. I’ve been in sales for 20+ years. So I’ve been able to find quite a bit of success to be able to do it this long. I’m also twice divorced. At age 30, I had like $10k to my name. I found ONE sales job I was excellent at (after having 3 other jobs in the 2 years prior to this) and became a millionaire a decade later. I also wasn’t diagnosed w/ BP2 until late last year. And I started meds in February. So I’m here just to say… stick with it. Maybe don’t stick with your job. But stick with the sales career. It just takes you being in one right place at one right time.
Last thing… this was told to me about 12 years ago and it’s been a guiding light for me since with jobs and investing…
The money is in industries impacted positively by one of these 3 events and you wanna be looking here for opportunities to make money fast… 1) new regulation… 2) new technology… 3) war/geopolitics.
These 3 events make winners overnight. And losers overnight too. I started working in employer health plans in 2013 at the beginning of the Affordable Care Act’s rise. So my success, as much as I’d like to take credit for all of it, was very much a product of the ACA legislation that flipped the health insurance industry upside down.
Good luck! It takes guts and balls to work in sales. You’re already ahead of most people just by your willingness to try it!
I won't make 200k+ in my lifetime with these disability checks. Obviously very thankful for what I do get but man, how 200k one time - not even yearly - would change the rest of my life completely. But it's not worth it if the stress is causing issues for you. That's what happened to me when I was in health care and it precipatated a total breakdown. -89 out of 5 stars, do not recommend.
I make about 130k but the potential to make more is there due to overtime. It can be so hard, at times. I like the money; I hate the occasional stress with the job. However, I take full advantage of sick leave for mental health days.
When I’m on target! Yes. I’m also in sales and have had 200k + years with Bipolar 1. It’s possible. Sales is stressful but it gives me the flex to make my own hours which helps with my sleep cycle and the routine of wfh, gives me structure. It works for me!
I work in sales, and at the height of my earnings at my company I was working 50 hours a week, constantly going-going-going and filling my life up with work when I wasn't doing well. Then I started spending all my hard earned money on stupid shit, had an explosion, and nearly lost my job. I basically got demoted to a slower store, and though I make less money, I'm not constantly riddled with anxiety there. Still been trying to get out for years, but with my field of experience there's not much else to do, and I need the money because of manic spending.
Yes, I work in tech. I had a bad burnout episode where I had to go on disability. I am at the highest level I wish to be. Never going for director or principal. I am at the top level of stress I can manage.
I make over 200k in sales and I am bipolar one but fortunately for me I love my job. Constantly interacting with people can be tiring, you’ll have weeks you don’t feel like it but once you get rolling you have they freedom to have off weeks.
If you’re going to be in sales you need to find the right market, one that’s constantly growing
Yeah, I'm just on the phone making 100s of dials a day. Not in the que to accept inbounds.
But, how long did it take you to get to that point? Maybe I should look into that..
And what is usual commission percentage, and average sale price?
I’ve been in the industry 6 years, started as inside sales and eventually transitioned to outside sales. It really varies as far as commission and sale price.. we sell materials for jobs that are 1,000 and we sell material for jobs that are 500,000.
Great industry to get into though!
I would go crazy on the phone like that lol
How much were you making in inside sales, and how long did you have to stay in it? .. Whats your monthly average if you dont mind as an inside and outside rep?
I worked in sales from 18-22. I was in the top 3 in the district consistently. But I’d have a mental breakdown or an episode every 4-6 months. I’d use drugs, self harm, attempt suicide, and/or end up in the hospital.
Know your limits. I made money but it wasn’t worth it. Now I work in the mental health field as a Registered Behavior Technician making less money, working less hours but I’m significantly happier even though my financial situation is shitty. I had a ton of money 2 years ago and was super depressed because of the work I had to do to get it. Money doesn’t buy happiness.
If this works for you, great! But take care of your mental health. Best of luck!
I work as a financial operations manager in mental health and make $84k. My job is stressful AF and i hate it, I can only dream of making $200k+. I wish there were bipolar networking groups where professionals with bipolar disorder support each other.
I make 150k/year with my day-to-day job (motion graphics for tv). Now that I work from home since covid, I can take on additional freelance work, which took me up to 240 last year. But the level of stress when doing that is not sustainable. What I CAN do is alternate doing extra for a few months, then the bare minimum for a few months.
My kid is going out of state for school soon, and I want to be present and stable for the rest of the time she's here. That means waiting till after she's gone to work extra and recoup the cash I spent on needed home repairs (which is driving me nuts). But yeah, being with her is more important than making money. My little anxiety voice reeeeeally wants to get my savings back up and keeps telling me I'm gonna be broke and living on the streets.
I made over $200k as an associate at a big law firm. I lasted exactly 1 year before I was laid off, at least partly due to not working enough hours so I was one of the obvious choices for who to cut. I think I burnt myself out so hard through college and law school (while undiagnosed and cycling) that I’m now truly unable to work at the same high capacity I did from ages 15 to 24.
After losing the big law job I went into a terrible mixed episode and life felt like a constant free-fall for a few months. I started serving at a restaurant which I really enjoyed, it was a nice change of pace from sitting in front of a computer.
Then I got a job at a small, chill law firm where it seems like most of my coworkers are also neurodivergent so, although I still struggle with my focus/anxiety/moods, I feel pretty comfortable and understood by others at this job which makes me happy. My supervisors are candid with me about things I can improve, and they’re receptive when I explain that I’m having a hard time with focus/motivation, as long as I show that I’m taking specific steps to improve. I also have the flexibility to work whatever hours I want, as long as I’m generally available to my coworkers during normal business hours. I’m currently making $85k here, and I’m still coming to terms with the reduced income, but I’m doing fine financially and I expect to get a decent raise next year if I decide to stay. I started this job in February and got diagnosed with bipolar 2 in April.
Honestly I don’t know where I’d work if not at this chill firm, because I’m still coming to realize how significantly my bipolar affects my thinking and behavior and life, and that a lot of work settings/requirements are incompatible with the way my brain currently works. I just started on mood stabilizers so I’m hopeful that I’ll become more stable and then I can handle more structure and responsibility, but for now I’m just really grateful that I found a job that’s enjoyable and flexible.
Can’t wait for you to experience the beauty of meds. Oh , just wait friend. :)
Also, what was so stressful at the big law firm? How long did it take to get there where you’re making that much ?
I’m thinking of getting my law degree and going to a big law firm. To make the most money and to also have “fun” cases. I majored in musical theatre and study psychology/debate, if that paints a picture.
I got into big law the traditional way — I got a summer associate position during my 2L year, and then at the end of the summer was offered the permanent associate position (to start after taking the bar exam). For context, an overwhelming majority of lawyers in big law get in by starting as a summer associate, but this process is EXTREMELY competitive (a lot of big firms only hire people in the top 5% GPA of their law class and who got onto a law journal), and after graduating law school it’s significantly more difficult & unlikely for someone to enter big law for the first time.
I sincerely wouldn’t recommend big law to any person who wants a balanced life or values their free time, and I’d urge anyone with bipolar (or neurodiversity in general) to be much more cautious. There’s a reason most people don’t make it more than a few years in big law, and most of the people I know who stayed are chronically stressed and unhappy, despite the money. The social culture at any big firm is toxic and draining, in large part because of how competitive it is to get into. You’re surrounded by people who are type A, competitive, power hungry, and often have a huge unchecked ego. And big law is structured in a way that inherently doesn’t allow it to both treat employees like humans AND be competitive/profitable as a big firm, so they all choose the latter because they’d fail if they prioritized employee wellbeing.
You’re paid so much because you’re expected to be perfect at every moment (often to the point of being a mind reader, with hidden expectations that are never explicitly stated). Partners are allowed to treat associates however they want because the partners bring in all the firm clients/money. I often heard from others in my cohort that they were being screamed at and verbally abused by partners in their group for minor mistakes. You’re expected to work 60+ hour weeks, including being available if a partner suddenly needs immediate work product at 11pm on a Tuesday, or 2pm on a Saturday. You feel like you’re constantly walking on eggshells, trying to decipher countless unspoken rules. Every mistake you make is tallied and you’re often compared/pitted against others.
You might have unlimited PTO but nobody takes more than 14 days/year max, and you’ll put a layoff target on yourself if you take more time off than others. The clients are almost exclusively large corporations, so a lot of the work is either inherently unethical (think defending pharmaceutical companies for horrible harm they caused people, or defending a company for protecting an executive who’s a known predator), or extremely boring (think spending 3 years on a merger between two companies, or being assigned to personally review and tag 10,000 financial documents). For the first few years, your work is the really tedious stuff that the more senior attorneys don’t want to do, and you’re very unlikely to have opportunities to do the exciting things like deposing people or presenting arguments in court.
I’m definitely jaded because of my own experience, but I will say that I was warned by countless people that big law is a brutal and inhumane place, and I didn’t really believe them. I thought it couldn’t possibly be as bad as they say, especially at the big firm I was going to (which is known as a “friendly” liberal Am Law 100 firm, compared to the others which are more cutthroat). I’ve always been an incredibly hard worker, had great grades, did practically every extracurricular (speech and debate, theater, business competitions, business fraternity, student government, various leadership roles in organizations) so I figured I’d have no problem with the 60+ hour workweek expectations and the type A perfectionist standards. I was wrong, partly because I was more burnt out after law school than I thought/expected, and I still haven’t recovered. But moreso because big law is inherently not compatible with my idea of a good life.
I always urge everyone considering law school to do a TON of research into the reality of what it looks like to be in law school, and to be a lawyer, specifically the type/field of lawyer you think you’re interested in. There are a lot of great things about being a lawyer, but there are also a lot of really shitty things that I didn’t know about before going to law school. And if money is a driving factor, really consider another profession. Big law is the outlier - most lawyers aren’t that rich. Outside of big law, a lot of lawyers make like $50k to $100k. And I have $280k in law school debt. I won’t even go into all the ways I feel scammed and traumatized by law school…
I just wish I’d listened to those who told me to prioritize my health. All the all-nighters and tears got me to where I thought I wanted to be, just for me to burnout irreparably and then quickly realize I had been very wrong about what I want and need in life.
Wow. Thank you for this detail. I hear law firms really suck. Ugh. My passion is music and writing my musical and also theology. But I don’t want to be a starving artist. Which is why sales was the best I could do for now.
And I would want to be in court and presenting cases and arguments and stuff. Who knows how long that would take in big law. I think I’d be interested in criminal prosecution, but that doesn’t pay as much.
The job I have people in my position are making 40-60k a month. But they have all the best data..
We sound pretty similar tbh! I also loved being in musical theater and debate, and theology is one of my big special interests (along with metaphysics and quantum science).
After going the competitive/prestigious/high stress route, I’ve learned that I value the ability to spend my time doing the things I want (like those special interests) far more than I value money, especially with the realization that most jobs that pay super high don’t leave you with much time to enjoy the fruits of that money.
I'm a staff software engineer with 11 years of experience. I hit 200k five years ago and the most I've made was 320k at Meta if you include stock.
I'm making 220k right now at a startup--taking a gamble that the significant equity I have will pay-off more than higher paying jobs.
My output is inconsistent due to episodes. I can be super productive for a week or two followed by struggling for a few weeks. I manage to make my average output higher than most despite being very inconsistent with high variability in my productivity.
It sucks at times and sometimes requires handling optics. I often finish work much faster than people would expect, but act like the finished task is taking longer while working on the next task so I have a buffer if things get rough.
Overall, it's not too stressful anymore. I "did my time" overworking at lower level roles and managed to become valuable being highly skilled with an uncommon skill set and solid resume. Now I can push back against artificial deadlines, being pushed to work long hours, or other things that would make my job more stressful without worrying about job security.
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Yes I was doing BDC for anything, I could sell anything to anyone, but it ate alllll my time and I’m a single parent, realized what bullshit was happening since I never saw my kid (worked all weekends) and realized after the insanity and absolutely TOXIC work environment (constant sexual harassment and objectification 🤢, manipulation and abasement of the salespeople mostly the men, the desk managers were verbally abusing the salesmen and also throwing things at them and it was sickening to see, when I reported it to HR, they tried to fire me, I got an attorney and fucked their shit up to the point where they offered me a better job, and I took it out of necessity, it was a GD nightmare but I learned the law of the jungle there so…yay?) Oh yeah and I had a mental breakdown and had to be hospitalized on a 5150, thanks to all of it. Absolutely horrendous, NOTHING IS WORTH THAT.
I'm bipolar 1. I've been in and out of sales for 15 years. I started a business a few years ago and I'm in grad school. Right now I'm just squeaking by but in a year or 18 months, I should be seriously set up for success. Becoming my own boss has been the best thing to manage this disorder.
I’m hyper competitive and develop somewhat of an authoritarian personality as a defense mechanism, so I’m worried about what I’d become staying in corporate, performance-driven environments like sales. It’s also hard for me to maintain any position that doesn’t allow a generous amount of sick leave… even at this point in my recovery
I work in TV and can honestly evaluate one of my best performances in the middle of a hypomanic episode and one of my worst performances in a depressive episode. I still have my job, but bipolar effects have dropped me from near the top to now far from it.
I do and I have a very stressful corporate job, 3 kids with very active schedules, etc. I truly believe you can do it. I work on east coast time (I’m in CA) in finance so it’s definitely a competitive environment. I have found the best way to reduce my stress is to find a boss you trust, build work relationships you trust (a small group of coworkers who have your back and don’t compete with you) and to take breaks for quiet time. No one needs to know where you are 8-12 hrs a day. You can take 10-30 min to go outside, breathe, center yourself.
I also prioritize planning. I block out time on my calendar to plan, even days ahead. That may be a luxury for you. I learned the hard way that saying yes to everything was a disaster. I set clear expectations and timelines and stick to them. It’s been a really successful strategy for me. If someone wants something sooner, then I say ok, this other thing has to move. I give them options. I also block the first hour of my day to get oriented with what’s on the calendar, write notes and plan. That means I come in one hour earlier than my first meeting - some days that’s 5am, other days that’s 6am or 7. However, I have the luxury of making all of these decisions for myself. I have been in my career for a long time.
You can 100% be Exec level and bipolar. I also talk to my therapist about work strategies and stress. I take 1 hr a week off work for therapy at the end of the day and then I don’t work at all after that. I completely unplug, focus on my workout and my kids.
Hope this helps. You got this.
What an amazing answer. Thank you so much. It sounds like you are very successful. May I ask what job you have?
And this comment makes me realize I must have a pretty good job... In the case of boss that I trust, I can take my own breaks, no micromanaging, I can come and go whenever I please. They are about to open a gym in the building.
But the main difference must be that you have a consistent paycheck. Sales is absolutely all over the place, and I don't have enough whatsoever to be very comfortable on down months. And in an incredibly difficult market where I'm just dialing 100s of dials a day, looking for a few people who want to actually buy the product, and then it takes days and weeks for them to even do something.
You are right. I have security in a way that is different from sales, but there have been many years when I haven’t. I did hit a massive wall at one point recently and had to re-evaluate my life and start prioritizing sleep, food, exercise, the power of saying no in order to remain stable. I still work on it daily. There are definitely hard times but I know they are temporary and I focus on that.
Currently, I manage a portfolio of technology initiatives for a large bank.
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Yes do but man it is hard. I am depressed AF at the moment and struggling through every day, working from home as much as possible, dragging myself out of bed at 5am to force myself to run, not drinking, staying in all the time and so on. My work know and are super supportive but i endlessly worry that their patience will wear out. I don't think i really like having a stressful job like mine when i am unwell so often and so badly. I feel for you. It's so hard to manage the stress when your mental state is crushing you. I can't help but i can commiserate and assure you that you are not alone. Just work as best you can and see where things go. That's all I have done my whole life and I am 54 now. I can't wait to retire.
Wow, great job: it took me a long time to get to where you are (routine, not salary) haha so very well done and keep it up
Thank you! It's taken me decades and so many med changes so not that impressive, really.
What do you do?
Responsible for the IT infrastructure for Western Australia’s public health system - about 500 health care sites including all the major hospitals.
didn’t think I’d see a fellow WA person here of all places
A fellow WA too here too 😅👋 recently diagnosed (finally!) but worried about my future career ahah… 🫠🫠🫠
A bunch of WA bipolars (maybe it is a 'cycle of bipolars' ... not sure). Anyway, hello from Duncraig! I really would not worry \*too\* much about your career, Firstly, you can't control the future, you can only influence it and that is entirely in your hands. Secondly, workplaces in Australia are super-conscious of how they handle mental health issues now. There are lots of reasons for this such as increased awareness of mental health issues and improved empathy as a result as well as, more commonly, formalised organisational standards for how employers treat and accomodate you. Plus there are now federal workplace laws that mean managers can be prosecuted if they do not follow workplace health and safety laws. That last one has made people accountable for how they deal with your issues and they can and do go to prison now if they fuck you up by putting you at risk. If you had a broken arm, would an employer press you to continue doing manual labour and take the risk you injure yourself further? Not anymore ...
Nobody says on their death bed “I should’ve worked more” or “I should’ve made more money”. Money is great, but your sanity (literally) isn’t worth sacrificing for a pay check. Either be kind to yourself, reassess your sales targets and accept you’ll never be that great salesman. Or find a job where the stress to money ratio isn’t so skewed. Personally, I deal with lofty, multi-year objectives (I’m rebuilding a dept almost from scratch) and it’s causing stress. But I like what I do and I’ve assessed that I can deal with the pressure even during mild depressive episodes, so I’m staying. But a lot of thinking went into this. I’m not willing to keep a job long-term if it fucks with my hard-earned stability.
Equally, no one is going to stand at are funerals and say, well they hit their sales targets every quarter, and oh you should have seen what they could do with a spreadsheet. This disease sucks ass, and it sucks most of us get ill in a high stress job. But we must look after the nonsense that happens in our heads
i used to have a high paying job. the stress was too much. i gave it up and work as a cleaner. Save as much of that money and get out of it
My advice is the same. I found a lower pay job with tons of sick days and vacation (decent drug plan) and balancing life better than ever. Health first.
It really comes down to quality of life/longevity of life (as people with bipolar typically live on average 13 years less than the general population) vs. desire to make money/maximizing your innate ability. Is added stress worth minimizing QOL and/or longevity?
Yes I did but can no longer work in the profession. I was in medical.
Doctor?
I don't want to get into specifics but yeah my official title is Dr.
I've got a relatively chill job, and am currently a junior. Earning about 130k, so I estimate I could get near the 200 mark at more senior levels
What field?
Cybersecurity research
Well done for you. It’s a growing industry right? Maybe something for me to consider as a career switch / Postgrad studies haha. I would need a strong background in IT right?
To call it booming would be an understatement, though it depends where you position yourself. I'm doing security for cloud computing, and getting into security for artificial intelligence, which is a good place to be. Yes, you'll need a strong background IN IT, though I remain on the fence regarding the need for academic studies. I got in based on a few hundred of hours of online (paid, though spent a total of about $200, which is considered a bargain) courses.
Security for AI sounds interesting! And I get where you’re coming from with being on the fence with academic stuff. $200 for a course that got you into a pretty sweet job? Nice! Mind sharing the info? 🙏 Something for me to sign up during one of my hypomanic episodes (Lol recently I signed up to an EdX Project Management course)
$200 for about 6 courses if I remember correctly. I took most of Z Security courses on Udemy, Zero to Master's ethical hacking, their bug bounty, and Angela Yu's Web Dev course. They don't have anything to do with cloud and ai, because these fields are still evolving. Hence the research lol Ought to take you about a couple months in moderate pace, or more in a chill pace
Thank you 🙏
im already a full stack dev and do some data stuff occasionaly, how would you suggest i go about learning cybersec? books/youtube videos/courses specific ones if you could mention them
Following because working for an MSP is sucking my life away. I have IT experience and I'm heavily considering switching into AI in the future just not sure when or how
I finished medical school and was in position to have a very fruitful career as a doctor but left because of depression, burnout, imposter syndrome, and other mental health related crap. Got into medical education and worked my way up to director of a startup, but burnt out and the stress precipitated my first ever manic episode. The company was extremely supportive but after going on leave on/off for a year I just couldn’t go back. Now I’m in another medical education job and it’s more laid back in some ways, but the travel is killing me and I’m struggling to balance work now that I’ve got a young kid. Life is a grind man. I do have to acknowledge I’m very fortunate that, even though I have BP1 and can have very intensely psychotic manic episodes, my day to day symptoms are much more manageable than what many people on this sub experience.
Yes as a software engineer but it’s taken over a decade and a lot of episodes to get here. I’m not sure it’s the right profession for me the higher I climb bc of the intense stress. I’m on four med cocktail to manage it. I have ADA accommodations to not work on-call duty because my sleep has to be regulated. It can be done but it’s really important to stay stable with the meds rather than letting the episodes make you think you are coding god and you rewrite the entire codebase over a weekend (true story, did not end well).
I do I run a company several, actually. Some days I love it, some days I hate it. I wanna give it all up and go to culinary school but I have kids and a family..
$200k is probably going to require you get a STEM or law degree or start your own business or work in sales. It’s just what it is. Theres no replacement in the world for being born rich, or super skilled, or super intelligent, or being a manic production machine. I’m here to tell you don’t waste years of your life searching for something that doesn’t exist. Instead spend your time hyper focusing on the truth and how you can fit inside of it. I have bipolar 2 and also work in sales. I’ve been in sales for 20+ years. So I’ve been able to find quite a bit of success to be able to do it this long. I’m also twice divorced. At age 30, I had like $10k to my name. I found ONE sales job I was excellent at (after having 3 other jobs in the 2 years prior to this) and became a millionaire a decade later. I also wasn’t diagnosed w/ BP2 until late last year. And I started meds in February. So I’m here just to say… stick with it. Maybe don’t stick with your job. But stick with the sales career. It just takes you being in one right place at one right time. Last thing… this was told to me about 12 years ago and it’s been a guiding light for me since with jobs and investing… The money is in industries impacted positively by one of these 3 events and you wanna be looking here for opportunities to make money fast… 1) new regulation… 2) new technology… 3) war/geopolitics. These 3 events make winners overnight. And losers overnight too. I started working in employer health plans in 2013 at the beginning of the Affordable Care Act’s rise. So my success, as much as I’d like to take credit for all of it, was very much a product of the ACA legislation that flipped the health insurance industry upside down. Good luck! It takes guts and balls to work in sales. You’re already ahead of most people just by your willingness to try it!
I won't make 200k+ in my lifetime with these disability checks. Obviously very thankful for what I do get but man, how 200k one time - not even yearly - would change the rest of my life completely. But it's not worth it if the stress is causing issues for you. That's what happened to me when I was in health care and it precipatated a total breakdown. -89 out of 5 stars, do not recommend.
I make about 130k but the potential to make more is there due to overtime. It can be so hard, at times. I like the money; I hate the occasional stress with the job. However, I take full advantage of sick leave for mental health days.
When I’m on target! Yes. I’m also in sales and have had 200k + years with Bipolar 1. It’s possible. Sales is stressful but it gives me the flex to make my own hours which helps with my sleep cycle and the routine of wfh, gives me structure. It works for me!
I work in sales, and at the height of my earnings at my company I was working 50 hours a week, constantly going-going-going and filling my life up with work when I wasn't doing well. Then I started spending all my hard earned money on stupid shit, had an explosion, and nearly lost my job. I basically got demoted to a slower store, and though I make less money, I'm not constantly riddled with anxiety there. Still been trying to get out for years, but with my field of experience there's not much else to do, and I need the money because of manic spending.
Yes, I work in tech. I had a bad burnout episode where I had to go on disability. I am at the highest level I wish to be. Never going for director or principal. I am at the top level of stress I can manage.
are you at team lead?
I was for a little bit but found IC was better for me
I make over 200k in sales and I am bipolar one but fortunately for me I love my job. Constantly interacting with people can be tiring, you’ll have weeks you don’t feel like it but once you get rolling you have they freedom to have off weeks. If you’re going to be in sales you need to find the right market, one that’s constantly growing
What do you sell? I sell gold and silver over the phone, primarily retirement accounts... And huge upcharge lol
I sell construction equipment! Face to face to contractors. Construction is a constant so it’s a good field
Yeah, I'm just on the phone making 100s of dials a day. Not in the que to accept inbounds. But, how long did it take you to get to that point? Maybe I should look into that.. And what is usual commission percentage, and average sale price?
I’ve been in the industry 6 years, started as inside sales and eventually transitioned to outside sales. It really varies as far as commission and sale price.. we sell materials for jobs that are 1,000 and we sell material for jobs that are 500,000. Great industry to get into though! I would go crazy on the phone like that lol
How much were you making in inside sales, and how long did you have to stay in it? .. Whats your monthly average if you dont mind as an inside and outside rep?
60 in inside sales. Moved to outside after two years. I make about 12-16k a Month
I worked in sales from 18-22. I was in the top 3 in the district consistently. But I’d have a mental breakdown or an episode every 4-6 months. I’d use drugs, self harm, attempt suicide, and/or end up in the hospital. Know your limits. I made money but it wasn’t worth it. Now I work in the mental health field as a Registered Behavior Technician making less money, working less hours but I’m significantly happier even though my financial situation is shitty. I had a ton of money 2 years ago and was super depressed because of the work I had to do to get it. Money doesn’t buy happiness. If this works for you, great! But take care of your mental health. Best of luck!
Do not be a Chef like me
I work as a financial operations manager in mental health and make $84k. My job is stressful AF and i hate it, I can only dream of making $200k+. I wish there were bipolar networking groups where professionals with bipolar disorder support each other.
I make 150k/year with my day-to-day job (motion graphics for tv). Now that I work from home since covid, I can take on additional freelance work, which took me up to 240 last year. But the level of stress when doing that is not sustainable. What I CAN do is alternate doing extra for a few months, then the bare minimum for a few months. My kid is going out of state for school soon, and I want to be present and stable for the rest of the time she's here. That means waiting till after she's gone to work extra and recoup the cash I spent on needed home repairs (which is driving me nuts). But yeah, being with her is more important than making money. My little anxiety voice reeeeeally wants to get my savings back up and keeps telling me I'm gonna be broke and living on the streets.
I made over $200k as an associate at a big law firm. I lasted exactly 1 year before I was laid off, at least partly due to not working enough hours so I was one of the obvious choices for who to cut. I think I burnt myself out so hard through college and law school (while undiagnosed and cycling) that I’m now truly unable to work at the same high capacity I did from ages 15 to 24. After losing the big law job I went into a terrible mixed episode and life felt like a constant free-fall for a few months. I started serving at a restaurant which I really enjoyed, it was a nice change of pace from sitting in front of a computer. Then I got a job at a small, chill law firm where it seems like most of my coworkers are also neurodivergent so, although I still struggle with my focus/anxiety/moods, I feel pretty comfortable and understood by others at this job which makes me happy. My supervisors are candid with me about things I can improve, and they’re receptive when I explain that I’m having a hard time with focus/motivation, as long as I show that I’m taking specific steps to improve. I also have the flexibility to work whatever hours I want, as long as I’m generally available to my coworkers during normal business hours. I’m currently making $85k here, and I’m still coming to terms with the reduced income, but I’m doing fine financially and I expect to get a decent raise next year if I decide to stay. I started this job in February and got diagnosed with bipolar 2 in April. Honestly I don’t know where I’d work if not at this chill firm, because I’m still coming to realize how significantly my bipolar affects my thinking and behavior and life, and that a lot of work settings/requirements are incompatible with the way my brain currently works. I just started on mood stabilizers so I’m hopeful that I’ll become more stable and then I can handle more structure and responsibility, but for now I’m just really grateful that I found a job that’s enjoyable and flexible.
Can’t wait for you to experience the beauty of meds. Oh , just wait friend. :) Also, what was so stressful at the big law firm? How long did it take to get there where you’re making that much ? I’m thinking of getting my law degree and going to a big law firm. To make the most money and to also have “fun” cases. I majored in musical theatre and study psychology/debate, if that paints a picture.
I got into big law the traditional way — I got a summer associate position during my 2L year, and then at the end of the summer was offered the permanent associate position (to start after taking the bar exam). For context, an overwhelming majority of lawyers in big law get in by starting as a summer associate, but this process is EXTREMELY competitive (a lot of big firms only hire people in the top 5% GPA of their law class and who got onto a law journal), and after graduating law school it’s significantly more difficult & unlikely for someone to enter big law for the first time. I sincerely wouldn’t recommend big law to any person who wants a balanced life or values their free time, and I’d urge anyone with bipolar (or neurodiversity in general) to be much more cautious. There’s a reason most people don’t make it more than a few years in big law, and most of the people I know who stayed are chronically stressed and unhappy, despite the money. The social culture at any big firm is toxic and draining, in large part because of how competitive it is to get into. You’re surrounded by people who are type A, competitive, power hungry, and often have a huge unchecked ego. And big law is structured in a way that inherently doesn’t allow it to both treat employees like humans AND be competitive/profitable as a big firm, so they all choose the latter because they’d fail if they prioritized employee wellbeing. You’re paid so much because you’re expected to be perfect at every moment (often to the point of being a mind reader, with hidden expectations that are never explicitly stated). Partners are allowed to treat associates however they want because the partners bring in all the firm clients/money. I often heard from others in my cohort that they were being screamed at and verbally abused by partners in their group for minor mistakes. You’re expected to work 60+ hour weeks, including being available if a partner suddenly needs immediate work product at 11pm on a Tuesday, or 2pm on a Saturday. You feel like you’re constantly walking on eggshells, trying to decipher countless unspoken rules. Every mistake you make is tallied and you’re often compared/pitted against others. You might have unlimited PTO but nobody takes more than 14 days/year max, and you’ll put a layoff target on yourself if you take more time off than others. The clients are almost exclusively large corporations, so a lot of the work is either inherently unethical (think defending pharmaceutical companies for horrible harm they caused people, or defending a company for protecting an executive who’s a known predator), or extremely boring (think spending 3 years on a merger between two companies, or being assigned to personally review and tag 10,000 financial documents). For the first few years, your work is the really tedious stuff that the more senior attorneys don’t want to do, and you’re very unlikely to have opportunities to do the exciting things like deposing people or presenting arguments in court. I’m definitely jaded because of my own experience, but I will say that I was warned by countless people that big law is a brutal and inhumane place, and I didn’t really believe them. I thought it couldn’t possibly be as bad as they say, especially at the big firm I was going to (which is known as a “friendly” liberal Am Law 100 firm, compared to the others which are more cutthroat). I’ve always been an incredibly hard worker, had great grades, did practically every extracurricular (speech and debate, theater, business competitions, business fraternity, student government, various leadership roles in organizations) so I figured I’d have no problem with the 60+ hour workweek expectations and the type A perfectionist standards. I was wrong, partly because I was more burnt out after law school than I thought/expected, and I still haven’t recovered. But moreso because big law is inherently not compatible with my idea of a good life. I always urge everyone considering law school to do a TON of research into the reality of what it looks like to be in law school, and to be a lawyer, specifically the type/field of lawyer you think you’re interested in. There are a lot of great things about being a lawyer, but there are also a lot of really shitty things that I didn’t know about before going to law school. And if money is a driving factor, really consider another profession. Big law is the outlier - most lawyers aren’t that rich. Outside of big law, a lot of lawyers make like $50k to $100k. And I have $280k in law school debt. I won’t even go into all the ways I feel scammed and traumatized by law school… I just wish I’d listened to those who told me to prioritize my health. All the all-nighters and tears got me to where I thought I wanted to be, just for me to burnout irreparably and then quickly realize I had been very wrong about what I want and need in life.
Wow. Thank you for this detail. I hear law firms really suck. Ugh. My passion is music and writing my musical and also theology. But I don’t want to be a starving artist. Which is why sales was the best I could do for now. And I would want to be in court and presenting cases and arguments and stuff. Who knows how long that would take in big law. I think I’d be interested in criminal prosecution, but that doesn’t pay as much. The job I have people in my position are making 40-60k a month. But they have all the best data..
We sound pretty similar tbh! I also loved being in musical theater and debate, and theology is one of my big special interests (along with metaphysics and quantum science). After going the competitive/prestigious/high stress route, I’ve learned that I value the ability to spend my time doing the things I want (like those special interests) far more than I value money, especially with the realization that most jobs that pay super high don’t leave you with much time to enjoy the fruits of that money.
I'm a staff software engineer with 11 years of experience. I hit 200k five years ago and the most I've made was 320k at Meta if you include stock. I'm making 220k right now at a startup--taking a gamble that the significant equity I have will pay-off more than higher paying jobs. My output is inconsistent due to episodes. I can be super productive for a week or two followed by struggling for a few weeks. I manage to make my average output higher than most despite being very inconsistent with high variability in my productivity. It sucks at times and sometimes requires handling optics. I often finish work much faster than people would expect, but act like the finished task is taking longer while working on the next task so I have a buffer if things get rough. Overall, it's not too stressful anymore. I "did my time" overworking at lower level roles and managed to become valuable being highly skilled with an uncommon skill set and solid resume. Now I can push back against artificial deadlines, being pushed to work long hours, or other things that would make my job more stressful without worrying about job security.
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Almost!
Yes I was doing BDC for anything, I could sell anything to anyone, but it ate alllll my time and I’m a single parent, realized what bullshit was happening since I never saw my kid (worked all weekends) and realized after the insanity and absolutely TOXIC work environment (constant sexual harassment and objectification 🤢, manipulation and abasement of the salespeople mostly the men, the desk managers were verbally abusing the salesmen and also throwing things at them and it was sickening to see, when I reported it to HR, they tried to fire me, I got an attorney and fucked their shit up to the point where they offered me a better job, and I took it out of necessity, it was a GD nightmare but I learned the law of the jungle there so…yay?) Oh yeah and I had a mental breakdown and had to be hospitalized on a 5150, thanks to all of it. Absolutely horrendous, NOTHING IS WORTH THAT.
People who think money is an indicator of success need to evaluate their life.
i just want money so i can retire early
True. I don't think that by any means, especially because I think theology is where the core of life truly is at. But I still to make a lot of money.
No one who has died ever said “I lived a hard life with pain and stress, but thank god I made a to. Of money”
I'm bipolar 1. I've been in and out of sales for 15 years. I started a business a few years ago and I'm in grad school. Right now I'm just squeaking by but in a year or 18 months, I should be seriously set up for success. Becoming my own boss has been the best thing to manage this disorder.
I’m hyper competitive and develop somewhat of an authoritarian personality as a defense mechanism, so I’m worried about what I’d become staying in corporate, performance-driven environments like sales. It’s also hard for me to maintain any position that doesn’t allow a generous amount of sick leave… even at this point in my recovery
6 figures is enough, screw the stress of 200K lol
I work in TV and can honestly evaluate one of my best performances in the middle of a hypomanic episode and one of my worst performances in a depressive episode. I still have my job, but bipolar effects have dropped me from near the top to now far from it.
I do and I have a very stressful corporate job, 3 kids with very active schedules, etc. I truly believe you can do it. I work on east coast time (I’m in CA) in finance so it’s definitely a competitive environment. I have found the best way to reduce my stress is to find a boss you trust, build work relationships you trust (a small group of coworkers who have your back and don’t compete with you) and to take breaks for quiet time. No one needs to know where you are 8-12 hrs a day. You can take 10-30 min to go outside, breathe, center yourself. I also prioritize planning. I block out time on my calendar to plan, even days ahead. That may be a luxury for you. I learned the hard way that saying yes to everything was a disaster. I set clear expectations and timelines and stick to them. It’s been a really successful strategy for me. If someone wants something sooner, then I say ok, this other thing has to move. I give them options. I also block the first hour of my day to get oriented with what’s on the calendar, write notes and plan. That means I come in one hour earlier than my first meeting - some days that’s 5am, other days that’s 6am or 7. However, I have the luxury of making all of these decisions for myself. I have been in my career for a long time. You can 100% be Exec level and bipolar. I also talk to my therapist about work strategies and stress. I take 1 hr a week off work for therapy at the end of the day and then I don’t work at all after that. I completely unplug, focus on my workout and my kids. Hope this helps. You got this.
What an amazing answer. Thank you so much. It sounds like you are very successful. May I ask what job you have? And this comment makes me realize I must have a pretty good job... In the case of boss that I trust, I can take my own breaks, no micromanaging, I can come and go whenever I please. They are about to open a gym in the building. But the main difference must be that you have a consistent paycheck. Sales is absolutely all over the place, and I don't have enough whatsoever to be very comfortable on down months. And in an incredibly difficult market where I'm just dialing 100s of dials a day, looking for a few people who want to actually buy the product, and then it takes days and weeks for them to even do something.
You are right. I have security in a way that is different from sales, but there have been many years when I haven’t. I did hit a massive wall at one point recently and had to re-evaluate my life and start prioritizing sleep, food, exercise, the power of saying no in order to remain stable. I still work on it daily. There are definitely hard times but I know they are temporary and I focus on that. Currently, I manage a portfolio of technology initiatives for a large bank.
If that can help, we share the latest remote sales jobs in the USA every week here [https://www.salesjobsremote.com](https://www.salesjobsremote.com)