[pokadotluv]

Hello everyone, I am new to this site. I am looking for support. I believe that I am bipolar. I am debating on seeing a medical professional to determine whether I am bipolar or not, but I seem to have all the symptoms and I know that Bipolar disorder runs in my family. The reason why I am hesitating seeing a medical professional is because I am scared of how the label of being bipolar can affect me. I am currently going to school to become a social worker. And I am not sure how being diagnosed with bipolar (meaning having it on my medical records) affect me finding future employment. I have worked so hard on my education and I don't want to have something slapped on my records and come and bite me on the butt. However, I do need help. I constantly feel like I am on an emotional roller coaster, and it is exhausting. My moods are affecting my relationships with my family, friends, and my fiance. I just can't handle it anymore. When I get depressed I can't even get out of bed, I cry all the time, and I isolate myself from the world. But when it passes I feel like I'm on top of the world. I am interested in everything and I feel like I can do it all. This makes it hard for me to function at work or school because either I do great or if I'm depressed I don't do well at all. I'm just scared of how being diagnosed with bipolar affect me in the future. Any advice would be helpful. Has being diagnosed with bipolar affected anyone on here, in terms of getting hired at jobs, or has it come up in background checks? Can employers do a medical background check and find out that you are bipolar?

[Sheba976]

Please look up that wonderful thing called HIPPA. Your medical information can only be released to those that you approve of. If your information is given out without your consent it is major fines for those involved. It is a BIG deal in the healthcare field!!! You should have no fears. No one will know, unless you tell them. Please go and talk to someone. You need to help yourself in order to help others.

[AniManiac]

There's no reason a potential employer should know about a medical condition unless a) you told them, b) you told someone other than a health care professional who told them, or c) it is physically evident.

The reasons in favor of disclosure include accommodation and protection under the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act, I'm assuming you're in the US based on spelling!) But as folks here will tell you, there's no guarantee of justice and sometimes people get sacked when their condition becomes known. The earliest to bring it up would be during negotiation after you've been offered the job. Or maybe never. Disclosure to an employer is a very situational thing.

I'm in a similar boat - going to school and worrying about how a bipolar dx will affect my job prospects. But the actual issue is more with the career than a job; I can get a job and my dx doesn't have to influence that. Making sure it's a job I can handle is a much bigger problem, since stress is a trigger.

One caveat is that an official bipolar dx may haunt your insurance records - which is a different issue than employment. Psych professionals are aware of this and may provide a different dx for paperwork purposes. My ICD-9 dx code is 296.90 - "Unspecified episodic mood disorder" - which apparently doesn't raise the same flags with the insurance.

Definitely look up HIPPA and go talk to a professional. The only times they can disclose anything without your consent is if you are a danger to yourself or others. Take care of yourself!