I was basically fired from my last big job for working while bipolar. I'd had to go out on medical LOA for a mixed episode that just was not resolving under the stress of my work, and when I got back three weeks later, I was told I was going to be monitored by the corporate nurse during the entirety of my workday, every day. I couldn't even do a physical assessment or talk with a resident (this was an assisted living facility where I was the nursing services director) by myself. Well, it took me about three hours to fall apart because the stress from having to work under these circumstances was more than I could handle...and two days later I was fired.

In a way, I don't blame them because it was clear from the get-go that I could no longer perform the essential duties of my job without reasonable accommodations for my mental illness. My pdoc wrote out three accommodations he thought I should have, and my employer basically said they "couldn't" honor those when they actually wouldn't. But I also feel they COULD have helped me, and they didn't because they apparently thought I was a liability, someone who couldn't be trusted, even though I'd given good service for two and a half years and the residents loved me.

I knew even then that I should have fought it, should have gone to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and filed a lawsuit against the employer. After all, I'd only asked for reasonable accommodations per the Americans with Disabilities Act and they'd flat out refused even to try working with me. But I was too beaten down at that point, and besides, I didn't want the job back---who wants to work for a company that will kick you when you're down?

I don't want to be a Debbie Downer, but that was my experience. I hope things go better for you than they did for me.