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I'm not a expert. I only barely understand what's going on with me. Two concerning things have happened recently, and I'd like some input and info on how to handle this. 1) My 20 yo nephew went through a bad break up. First love, first heartbreak, that kind of bad. I feel like I was the only one who took him seriously. I guess I'm the only person in the family who remembers being 21 and crying til' ya' vomit. He tried to cut himself, but he's just not that guy. I talked to him for hours. I called him a couple of times every day. And every time he said he was depressed, I rolled my eyes and corrected him- he's dealing with grief. His was a temporary situation created by a traumatic change. His went away in 8 days. He was still sad, but healing. As hearts do. Now he's much better. 2) My best friend's 12 yo daughter has labeled herself depressed. My friend "Jane" monitors the google hangout "Anne" has with her friends. Anne and company have recently begun discussions regarding depression, ADHD, pansexuality, bisexuality, and identifying as agender and/or transgender. Anne calls herself pansexual, agender, and depressed. She's 12. I'm not trying to discredit her. She might identify as pansexual and agender. I don't think she really does, but I'm not entrenched in her personal life, and I wouldn't know how to immediately recognize those traits in a person. I do, however, firmly believe she does not have depression. Jane thinks she's 12 and freaking the fuck out like girls do. This kid isn't depressed. And not, you know, in the way that adults just ignore teen complaints. Not in the way people shrug things off. Jane and I are very good friends, and being able to live with, deal with, and identify mental illness symptoms plays a role in it. We're pretty sure these girls are just reaching for labels to find any way to identify with big concepts. They don't have sex lives. Their bodies and minds are trying to pick a direction. It seems like Anne is picking a destination, and probably for something a little less than attention but almost. So how do you talk to people, especially teens, about these things? My nephew will never learn. He will cling to depression like it is his favorite shirt. Some people are fine with being corrected about using depressed. (No, I don't correct everyone. Just the obviously nots.) How do you explain to a child that depression is a very serious condition, and that idly picking it like a lipstick color, trivializes it? Or how adopting LGBTQ labels from an already struggling community minimizes their very real concerns? She's 12 and desperate for an identity she can show her friends. I'm scared that explaining depression symptoms would only give her something to embrace, some new ways to behave to drive the point home. Jane and I don't want this girl to act it out only to become it. How can we talk to her about depression in other people?

I'm working on a teaching career, primary and secondary, in the USA. I'm pretty functional now that I'm on stimulants, otherwise I'm a mess. I'm in a program where I volunteer full time in a school as a tutor, in order to get experience to go into a residency which will get me my license. There is almost a complete masters degree worth of classes I'll be taking in the process. I haven't disclosed to anybody in my program. Any thoughts?

This is an education-related post technically, but I'm posting it in the employment forums for a reason. One being that I did my BS degree in 2004, and a combination of physical and mental illnesses rendered me... get this... "unemployable" by 2009. Not kidding; I basically got kicked out of a scientific recruiting office back in 2009 due to not having worked since 2007. Lesson learned from that? Don't get sick, mentally or physically, especially in a labor market depression like we're having now. Well okay, that's not practical for any of us, is it now? So I did what any rational guy would do. I applied to a Master's degree program at the local university town, got in, and am about to complete it (3 weeks left!). My Master's degree is going to be in Information Sciences, which is roughly where Computer Science, Sociology, English Literature, and Mathematics meet. Yes, they do meet. As a nod to my Biology major in my BS degree, I am doing the "chemical information" specialization offered within my Master's degree. But then, I went through lots and lots of job interviews. One would think that after having proved oneself by going through the work involved in a Master's degree (and the one I did is known for being particularly time-consuming, work-intensive, and difficult), that it would prove one's employability. Not the case, apparently, as I just wasn't employable enough compared to my peers, all of whom had no "job gap". Many of these peers also had less job experience than I did. It's just that companies will rather hire someone with no background rather than someone with an existing but slightly risky background. If by risky, I mean "has gotten ill once". </rant> So again, I did what any rational guy would do. I applied to... get this, the ultimate measure of despair... PhD programs. And got into one. With a paycheck (!). (This invalidates an informal rule I made up a few months ago, mainly that I am not allowed to receive money... obviously I was wrong!). It barely pays a living wage and requires me to spend 80+ hours a week either in class or working, though. However, it's in a field that I (and probably a lot of us here on CB) are passionate about: Health Informatics. Which, for those who don't know, is roughly a cross between biomedical studies, computer science, sociology, and mathematics. Almost the same as Information Sciences, but oriented towards medicine. Appropriate for me since I once wanted to be a physician myself, but that didn't work out due to physical and mental issues. I'm expecting to finish the PhD coursework by 2016 (when I will be the tender young age of 32). Official graduation (which requires thesis and some things comparable more to a complicated hazing ritual) would be later. But the real endpoint of this is -- will it result in eventual financial solvency for me? The master's degree I did obviously did not achieve this endpoint as I had expected it to. Maybe the PhD will, as I will be doing it at a reasonably esteemed program that has network connections to several big players in health care and pharmaceuticals (the very entities that deliver our psychiatry consultancies and meds!). Anyways, bleh. Sorry for the rant. I would like to hear others' stories about taking advanced education when employment wasn't an option, and what the outcome was... and any advice for someone entering a graduate health sciences program.

I used to be in a special ed class (For high schoolers with emotional issues like bipolar for instance) now we are both on independant study-but are planning to go back next year-and haven't seen each other since really early October. He is a year younger than me but honestly he's smarter than me so I don't notice haha. Well I thought I was gay/lesbian until Saturday. But we went to see the Great Gatsby Saturday He's just so... what I've been looking for. Anyways he said he wished he could find a girl as fun as me that was straight. That made me think "Does he like me?" And my mom has been saying "You know I think he has a little bit of a crush on you." So I used that as excuse to say "My mom says you like me. Be 100 percent honest with me. Is it true?" And he being the smart guy he is (Which I like about him) made it sound complicated and I couldn't tell if it was yes or no. So I asked "What does that mean lol" and he said "I mean if you wanted to date me I'd say yes." and then we talk in a "what if" way until i said "I want to date you." and well now we're dating!!! My last "relationship" I was 13 and we weren't really "dating" or anything so... Yea I think I'm bisexual and I am just so happy!!! We updated our facebook relationship status' and everything!!! I'm so excited!!! He's so sweet and kind and smart and understanding and funny. Whoo!!! I didn't want to put this in the relationship section because it says its for issues... this isn't an issue LOL

I’m currently an undergrad studying English lit. Enrolling in university was a huge step for me and I’m glad I took it but I worry a lot about my future. Tuition isn’t cheap and the amount of debt I’m in is increasing each semester (not that anyone needs to be reminded of that). I’m not sure if English lit is the right major for me, I like to read and write but I don’t know if getting a degree in it will be helpful for my future and eventually getting a full-time job. I also often feel out of place in my classes. The people around me seem so interested and passionate about classical literature, etc. I’d rather stay at home and re-read the same YA lit books I’ve been reading for years. I’m not passionate about anything save for napping, television show marathons, and Diet Pepsi. Chronic depression zaps my zest for life. I don’t have many options. There are some obvious interests I have like psychology, sociology, women’s studies, social work, political science, but none of these lead to a career that I feel I can handle. I don’t want to be a professor or go into academic research. Psychology and social work – I love these in theory, but in practice, I’m not sure I am capable of handling the kind of intense human interaction that is generally involved. I’m a very rigid and anxious person. My strong suits are reading and writing. I’m very terrible at maths and hard sciences (serious dyscalculia), and dealing with people (just socially inept in general). Can anyone relate?

Is anyone here a doctor or in school to be a doctor? I'm just starting out on doing my pre-med classes (finish my first one on thursday!) and i start full on in the fall. but as proud of and happy i am with this decision i've made, i still find myself embarrassed to tell people. i mean, on one hand i'm 28, married, with a kid, and have a degree in art and another in education (not exactly consistent), so i'm worried about judgement on that. but the more i get into school and prove i "still got it" (so to speak) the more i feel i can hold my own on that front. on the other hand, i'm bipolar. i don't have any doubt that i can do this. i know there's going to be a learning curve to managing my illness and getting through school, etc. but i'm afraid of the opinions of others. i actually just told my pdoc and he had to drag it out of my b/c he couldn't understand why i was taking all these math classes. i was terrified of telling him and my tdoc b/c i thought they might tell me that i should "reconsider" and that would crush me (they didn't though i'm still paranoid). my friends from home still don't know and my friends from here know (maybe) through me indirectly talking about it. my father-in-law just found out and the rest of my in-laws don't know (to be fair i tried to tell my mother-in-law and she told me that was unacceptable because we weren't allowed to leave this city and my husband had a career here and wanted to go to school, then promptly forgot i said anything. she's a gem.). just looking for some people who have been there, done that and how they handled both the practical side of being bipolar and studying to become/being a doctor and the judgement, if there was any. thank you.