u/Ham2thaBone

So when I had my last bad manic episode I had to be hospitalized for psychosis. Part of that was feeling really connected to the oneness spiritually and feeling like I had figured out the key to helping people confront past traumas. Some of what I wrote actually makes some sense while lucid, but other parts really depart from reality.

I have a personal private Instagram and a public one for sharing my music. Well, I decided it was a great idea to pay $30 to boost a post on my public account that was all rambling pontificating these newfound understandings. The worst part is since it is an old ad I literally can't delete it or alter it. So there it is, hanging out in the midst of posts of me singing and playing ukulele. I do mention being bipolar in another post, so perhaps some people will collect the dots. Over 150,000 people saw this thing and now it's there forever unless I delete my account. Or maybe even beyond then, I have no idea. Just offering up this story to anyone else in these shoes...and if you do know how to get rid of an old ad post, please help!

I am considering going back to school to become a licensed mental health counselor. I'm curious how many of you work in that field as a counselor or other role. If you do, I'd love your insights.

I got my bachelor's about 20 years ago before any symptoms appeared and worked at non profits in fundraising and communications successfully for about 13 years until my symptoms started. It took several years to understand what was going on and get diagnosed, in which time my employment became really sporadic. It has been a rough 7 years since being diagnosed, including a couple of in-patient stays for mania with psychosis. It seems I am on a pretty good med regime now as I have not experienced such extreme episodes in the past 2 years. I still feel really gun shy about trying to go back to work and remaining stable, but I feel really strongly that pursuing counseling makes sense for me at this stage of my life and experience.

Anyway, I am purely at the noodling stage and any thoughts are welcome on your own experiences.