Manic, Anxious, and the Pursuit of Meds

After graduating with a master's degree in special education, Matthew J. Miller begins his first teaching experience in the bush of Alaska. After only a quarter into the start of his teaching career, he experiences the first mental breakdown of his life and finds himself homeless living out of his car; this becomes the catalyst for a cyclical pattern of manic-driven PTSD for the next decade of his teaching career. After being non-renewed from three out of his first four jobs, he resurrects his career in a high turnover, day treatment school for students with emotional and behavioral needs. Reviving his career comes at a cost as vicarious trauma combined with his own issues becomes too much to handle ultimately leading to another mental breakdown. After a year's time of prescribed "heavy duty" meds and therapy, he experiences a complete rewiring of his system giving him the ability to make sense of his past and present. Moreover, a wave of untapped potential is uncovered allowing him to find purpose in life and finally find true happiness.