[simonemyheart]

My bipolar has been controlling me lately and a part of me was okay with that. i love hypomania or mania but the crash is unbearable for me and my family.

Thank goodness for my wonderful husband.

I was sent home due to certain behavior and I am going to file FLMA in case it happens again so that can't fire me.

It's like if i went to work and said my blood sugar was low or high due to diabetes everyone would gather around and try to help. I if I go work and say my bipolar is flaring up no one cares. Ugh, that make me so angry.

[~Christina]

Not many give a **** about Bipolar. I see no reason to let an employer know to begin with. But, once that cat is out of the bag there seems to be no way to stuff him back in. Just because you have Bipolar in your file or through FMLA you can still be fired.. Employers can just find any old excuse to let you go. Or make life at work so unbearable and you find up quitting.

Good luck and hope that your employers aren't total jerks.

Good luck and welcome to PC

[BipolaRNurse]

Welcome to PC! So sorry you're going through this. I know how it feels, as it's happened to me too (although my boss actually comp'ed me for the mental-health days I took instead of making me use my vacation days). I had a pretty serious hypo/manic episode last summer that ended in my becoming hostile, verbally combative and just an all-around pain in the arse, so I was ordered to go home until I could get stabilized.

Fortunately I was able to get on some meds that brought me down quickly, and all was well.....but that episode really let the aforementioned cat out of the bag as far as having bipolar was concerned. I'm very fortunate that my employer is understanding, but if I'd had a choice I'd rather not have had to disclose my illness.

As far as your employer needs to know, you have only a "medical condition" that flares up every now and again, and requires rest when you're ill. (That's what my pdoc told me to tell my boss when the question of working a few night shifts came up recently. I am basically forbidden to do so because of my bipolar, but I don't want to make a federal case out of it.) There is no need for them to know details about your health history.....like you said, if a diabetic employee says they're feeling bad because of blood-sugar variations, nobody even raises an eyebrow.

[OutlawedSpirit]

Just a fair warning, depending on if your FMLA goes through a third party, I have been having major issues with my short term disability case. Although my T and my pdoc both said that I am not fit to be working with machinery at this time because my mania and psychosis is not under control, my claim was denied and I'm pretty sure I'm going to be terminated because of it come Monday. I don't want to say that you shouldn't but I just want you to be aware that they can use it against you.

[purpledaisy]

Don't tell your employer about your bipolar.

That's just my opinion after having gone through something similar recently.

I had been on the job for about a year and a half, my bipolar was taking me on a really big rollercoaster, I couldn't concentrate, I was making all kinds of mistakes, I wasn't retaining information when I was being trained to take on new aspects of the job, I was falling behind, and interns who were brought in zoomed past me.

I took short-term disability and FMLA for several weeks after being reprimanded at work yet again.

It gave me time to go through several meds with my pdoc to try to get things under control. During those weeks, I went from bouncing off the walls, to practically being a zombie, and then to a somewhat middle ground where I remain. But the middle ground is leaning toward the depressive side and I am miserable because I need that spark of mania to keep my creativity going. But it's gone.

I never told my young, inexperienced boss about my bipolar. I was kicked around the idea of telling her, but I decided against it after communicating with some folks here on the forum and doing some research on my own.

Not long after I got back to work full-time after my leave, I was put on probation. At that point, I knew I was going to be fired soon, and I was right.

The good thing if you get fired is unemployment. So don't quit. Hang in there so you have a shot at unemployment.

I didn't have any problems with my short-term disability payments kicking in when my PCP, T, and pdoc decided I should go on leave.