How does your bipolar affect your career/job?

[lisalaneland]

I was hoping to get some responses about how having bipolar has affected your professional life (if applicable, obviously

Comments

[lilac_jellybean]

I had similar problems of trying to stay in work until I got into my current job.
I got very lucky in that I'm not the only one with mental health problems so we look after each other.
I'm in the UK and we have a bipolar organisation that has loads of useful info on their website that might be helpful. Do a search for bipolar uk then look at the advice section, they have leaflets for employees and employers that are worth a read.

[lisalaneland]

Cool, thanks! I will definitely look at the organization

[noiredemons]

I've been at my current job for 4.5 years. About 2 yrs ago I had a major mental break. I came in one day and just realized I couldn't do it anymore. I called the associate director and told him I have to take time off and don't know when I'll be back. I filed for FMLA, and spent a month in a partial program, then took another 2 weeks before I went back to work. I made the decision while on my "break" to try a different job but within a month I was suicidal again and off work. Luckily I was able to go back to my current job on limited part time working back up to full time

[lisalaneland]

Thank you so much for sharing

[notxdeadxyet]

At this point I'm now on disability. I cannot and probably will not, ever work again.
But when I did, I was very erratic in my behavior. My work was always excellent but the way I dressed, the way I actually performed any given task...obviously bipolar behavior if one were looking for it.
As for school, it was decided to take me off my meds before I left home. I went to college with meds and no referral to a mental health center.
I flunked out in three semesters.

[lisalaneland]

How old are you?

[notxdeadxyet]

I'll be thirty six this november. I took a two year leave of absence from my job 2005-2007 for mental health issues. I had to leave in 2007 when I ran out of leave time. Worked some odd jobs from 2007 till 2012, but never more than a few hours a week.
I applied for SSDI in 2005 and was approved in 2011. I quit my ten-hour-a-week job the day I was approved and I haven't worked since.

[lisalaneland]

So was your issue at work being self conscious about people looking at you? Did you have hygiene issues? Was it a lot of interdepartmental BS?

What kind of work did you do, if you don't mind me asking?

Do you feel that you have a better quality of life now that you aren't working?

Sometimes I explain to my husband, think of my energy and emotional/mental well-being as a tank of gas. Presenting myself to the public and at a corporate job takes easily half of the tank. If something goes wrong it's closer to 3/4 and by the time I get home I'm running on empty and I can't hide how I feel anymore. I love my husband dearly but I didn't have an outlet or sanctuary, not even enough hours in the day to refuel. Once I was taking a lot of FMLA time I slept over 12 hours per day, I just needed that time to recharge. Do you experience that?

[starrynight]

I don't work. Can't function, even with doing 12 hours of work a week.

I got SSDI. It took me almost two years, but you get back pay. It doesn't have anything to do with earnings, though the more you earn, the better, because your monthly check is higher. I get $800 a month, plus Medicaid and Medicare, and food stamps.

[lisalaneland]

I think that is about the same amount as I would be getting if I got approved. I sent all my original medical reccords like they asked. It would be perfect timing if it got accepted soon.

[starrynight]

Well, there's a 6 month waiting period. So even if you do get approved, you don't get money until those 6 mos are up

[tybron]

Bipolar II has pretty much lost me every job I've had. Only one job I've actually quit because it sucked, the rest I'd either sink into a depressive phase and keep openly stating how I was going to be stuck in the same dead-end job for the rest of my life and contemplate suicide, or if I was in a manic phase I'd get really irritable and bitchy with coworkers and irate customers and eventually just snap at one that gave me lip, causing instant termination. On the flip side, hypomania can also make me wittier, funnier and faster which really impresses customers and bosses, so it's not all negative. Just depends on how much sleep I've got and mood at the time

[lisalaneland]

I have seen a few cases where people are getting disability just for being mentally ill. I don't know if they used a different approach to getting approved. I think you're more likely to get it if you don't have any income. So the people who live with their parents for nothing and don't have to worry about rent and bills end up getting it, and people that have to actually get a job get screwed. I am keeping an open mind about it though

[tybron]

I've seen a few cases myself, one where the person had Bipolar I, owned his own tech support/computer sales business, but the business tanked when he'd told off too many difficult/irate customers and word-of-mouth killed his reputation. He filed for disability and got it, but that was Arizona, where they have state-run mental health programs that are apparently superior to the barely-alive one I have here in Oklahoma (which is why I've never sought state assistance for my bipolar). So I think they base it on whether you can function with your illness. Schizophrenics and Bipolar I with psychosis are more likely to get it than say, major depressives or Bipolar II with hypomania (which is what I've got

[lisalaneland]

I am told I have type II. The only reason I may get it is because I live in Massachusetts and apparently they are pretty lenient.. but I'm not sure if that is just with welfare or if it's with disability, too