This is very specific but worth a shot. I never had experience with kids in my family, mostly because the majority of my close-in-age family members decided to not have kids. I don't think those that did even trusted me to be around their kids when I was in my early adulthood, though no one mentioned it. I also have decided not to have children of my own. Long story short, I'd like to be a therapist/speech language pathologist, but I have next to no experience with children. I know I can get started simply by working in a kid-centered job, but I'm super anxious about that prospect and was curious if anyone has had similar thoughts.

I know many people out here are parents themselves. I've spoken to parents who say that having children provided them with a reason to be, and they actually recommend having them. I also talked to people who said although they loved their kid, they highly don't recommend having them as they made their mental illness 10x worse. I'm not looking for opinions about having children, just working with them. Would you honestly trust another bipolar person around your kids? I realize you don't know me, but what are the general sentiments about this? Am I right to be concerned because I have an unstable past, or am I overthinking because all adults have a degree of unstable history?