YOU ARE NOT ALONE - A companion online community discussion board for The Mental Illness Happy Hour podcast with Paul Gilmartin

I'm glad to be here because I have a pathological inability to ask for help in real life and it seems easier online. I got fired today because my depression, anxiety, and PTSD and OCD symptoms made it hard for me to sleep and caused me to be late for work repeatedly. Plus I'm behind on rent, I've got overdue bills, the dog needs a vet appointment - just a lot of shit piling up.

But the biggest stressor might be the notion that I need to decide my career path in the next few weeks. The job I got fired from was crisis counseling. I liked it and was good at it, but clearly I was taking a lot of stress and sadness home that contributed to the sleep issue. So I'm wondering if I should be applying for jobs simular to the one I just lost or if I should be applying for less stressful jobs.

In other words, just how wounded can a healer be before he needs to quit?

How is it going, 24 hours in?

Hey, thanks for responding. It's hard to say so far. I went to a support group last night but it didn't help as much as usual. I wanted to clean today but I just played on my phone. So I'm kind of feeling like I can't do much and the depression and anxiety are running things.

Sigh... I know things will probably get better, but they suck right now.

Good good good.

You are doing smart, good things: going to a support group and using your words here.

If you like, and you are welcome to say no, I can offer some thoughts and perspectives on getting fired. It has happened to me three times. If you like, I can speak to you man to man, give it to you straight.

Let me know.

You chose a delightful forum name; I can tell you have a fine mind.

Sorry to hear that.

Think of it as a push in a different direction. I've had jobs I thought I'd have forever and would make a good living at and ended up bringing too much of my baggage and lost them. I've had to change jobs so many times I feel like my resume is a comedy to anyone I apply to now. But I started looking at all kinds of occupation clusters online, in fields I'd thought I'd be horrible at and avoided for years and am finding a vast interest in those possibilities. But stay strong with anything you choose to do and you've got people here routing for ya!

Sorry to hear that