Admiration for high functioning depressed people

[noname223]

I am probably bipoar. And very depressed. Unfortunately i cannot work. I would really like to work but i simply cannot. I get fired quickly. I admire people who are high functional despite bipolar disorder or severe depression. Respect for you guys.

 

[I_love_to_bake]

I admire you for continuing to keep looking for more jobs after being fired. It's not easy to keep pushing past rejection. Someday you will find a job with other depressed people and you'll fit right in :)

 

[Shades of Grey]

Good on you for continuing to push forward.

One thing to remember is that those people that appear to be "high functioning" weren't necessarily always that way (and may have more going on behind the scenes than you realize).

It took me an ungodly amount of time (10 years) to push through undergrad because I really wasn't very functional. I eventually ended up where I'd wanted to go, but it took a longer, more circuitous route to get there. I had to focus on other things first.

 

[Good4Nothing]

Does just having a job make you high functioning? Because I feel like I'm barely functioning.

 

[noname223]

I think high functioning means that you are very good but despite that severly depressed. But i am not an expert

 

[Matthias_k]

I was one of those high functioning people for more than 20 years. Work, meds, alcohol, drugs, sex etc were keeping my mind busy and even if deep down I knew perfectly what I really was and how it would end, I didn't really care. Then after a while things started to change, meds not working as well as they used to, less energy, memory loss, apathy...Today I am a mess, no friends, no family, voluntarily isolated and just waiting for death.

All that to say that sooner or later even high functioning people hit a wall that they can't overcome. But thank you anyway

 

[noname223]

For a short period of time (3 years) i was high functioning too. But i avoid getting hypomanic again. lol.

 

[BitterlyAlive]

Good on you for continuing to push forward.

One thing to remember is that those people that appear to be "high functioning" weren't necessarily always that way (and may have more going on behind the scenes than you realize).

It took me an ungodly amount of time (10 years) to push through undergrad because I really wasn't very functional. I eventually ended up where I'd wanted to go, but it took a longer, more circuitous route to get there. I had to focus on other things first.

This is so true.

 

[alexit]

Is there a scale of functioning? Asking in earnest. I have a job but there are days I spiral out of control and affects things.

 

[Shades of Grey]

Is there a scale of functioning? Asking in earnest. I have a job but there are days I spiral out of control and affects things.

I suppose it's probably relative.

My suspicion is that many people would probably look at my advanced degree, decent income, and ostensibly fulfilling job that many kids dream of growing up to do and say "oh, they're high functioning".

I've gotten decent at fulfilling obligations and going through the motions (which I understand can be a massive struggle for those of us who deal with severe and/or chronic mental illness) but internally? I mean... I'm posting on Sanctioned Suicide too.

You can never really know what's going on behind the scenes.

(ETA... I realize that was probably less than encouraging. Sorry for that. It's been a long week.)

 

[alexit]

You can never really know what's going on behind the scenes.

"The only normal people there are are the ones you don't know very well." – Peter Dinklage, The Angriest Man In Brooklyn