Its nice for someone with my illness to be productive and helping the Earth like I am. There is a problem, however. I'm alone a lot.
Now that I'm flying back to Mars station to pick up the next batch of serum, I start to think about what some people with my condition end up doing. Some of my friends on Mars and on Earth, who have mental illness, have groups they can attend, people to be with. I often wonder what that would be like. Some of them would say that I shouldn't be isolated like this captaining a space ship and living alone. I have to admit, there are times, especially this run between stations, when I start to wonder about the purpose of my life. I feel sorry for those mentally ill who do not have work, who can't work because of the side effects of their medication, or because their illness is so much worse than mine.
I remember one bipolar man, Eric Hindemith, who was on Regolisth, a new medication, but due to whatever effects he had to be on an anti-depressant and an anti-anxiety medication. He could not work for a living because the anti-anxiety medication had to be taken every four hours, and if he got too into his work he would forget to take it on time. That was the theory anyway. Eric was lucky to find a group where they did art and had writing seminars. He was even still married and got lots of support from his wife for what he was doing. If I didn't have my writing, I don't know what I would do.
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