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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 5 of 5. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Christ_empowered on February 28, 2015, at 15:20:32
I'm working on finishing my 4 year degree online right now. Too blessed to be depressed...I transferred in 70ish credit ours, so I should get er done fairly quickly.
Problem is...where does an early 30something former crazy get a j-o-b? My former psychiatrist recommended that I go into counseling, which is something I've only recently begun to seriously consider.
Any other options, you think?
Posted by Tomatheus on February 28, 2015, at 17:33:43
In reply to jobs for ex-crazies?, posted by Christ_empowered on February 28, 2015, at 15:20:32
Christ_empowered,
The counseling idea does sound good. I know that I've read somewhere (I can't recall where, though) that mental health professionals are more likely to have mental health problems of their own than people in most professions, so you'd likely face less stigma in getting a counseling job than you'd face in trying to get a job in a field outside of the mental health industry. You also might have an advantage of sorts over some of your colleagues, as you'd in some ways have a better understanding of what your clients are going through than someone who hasn't experienced mental illness first hand.
I think that in all likelihood, if I can ever get my concentration to be consistently decent, I might try writing some fiction before doing anything else. I did a lot of writing back in college, having received my first degree in journalism (with areas of emphasis in English and political science) and my second degree in psychology (with a minor in history), and since I see myself being more likely to succeed as a fiction writer than as a journalist or mental health worker, I'll probably strive to write fiction once I can actually read enough fiction on a regular basis. So, I think that it might be a good idea for you to look at both what your strengths (and weaknesses) are and what your educational background (major, etc.) is. I might have already asked you this in a previous thread, but what have you been studying in school?
I'll certainly keep an eye on this thread for more replies from others who might have other ideas as to what jobs would be good for someone who's recovering from a serious mental illness. I do think that writing is something to consider if you're interested in it, as you'd be able to set your own hours and wouldn't have to deal with bosses who might discriminate against you for having a mental health condition. On the other hand, making a living as a writer might be difficult, especially if you haven't done much (if any) writing in the past. And along the lines of what I said earlier, I think that when looking at any field that you might want to get into, you'd want to look at whether the work fits with your strengths, whether you have the training and/or educational background needed to do the work, and of course, whether you'd actually enjoy doing the work. Some jobs may generally be better fits for those of us who've battled with mental illness for a long time, but I think that a lot of finding the right job is going to involve individual factors, as well.
Tomatheus
Posted by baseball55 on February 28, 2015, at 19:28:14
In reply to Re: jobs for ex-crazies? » Christ_empowered, posted by Tomatheus on February 28, 2015, at 17:33:43
I don't see what bearing being an "ex-crazy" would have on your career plans. What will your degree be in? What careers do people with your major generally pursue? Sure, counseling can be good if it's something you'd like to do and if your degree is relevant. But so can programming or finance or sales or teaching or designing video games or anything you are interested in and skilled enough to do.
You need not and probably should not tell any potential employers about your mental health challenges. If you need to explain gaps in your resume, simply say you were ill, but have now recovered or say you were traveling through Asia or whatever.
Posted by Angela2 on March 3, 2015, at 19:43:07
In reply to jobs for ex-crazies?, posted by Christ_empowered on February 28, 2015, at 15:20:32
You can do anything you want if you really want it and put your mind to it.
Posted by rjlockhart37 on March 7, 2015, at 20:50:52
In reply to jobs for ex-crazies?, posted by Christ_empowered on February 28, 2015, at 15:20:32
well, just think of something that your good at,find some places around where you live, you could go get an application, and fill it out.....that or online, online applications are becoming notorious now, paper application are starting to leave because of technology.......
there's job websites, monster.com, but thte best one that would be good is indeed.com ... that will make thing easier......
just try your best to do what you think you can do....
check it out....a job is a job, it's work and monwy
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