[token451]

I was recently offered a promotion at work and I am unsure if I should take it. My job is decently stressful and taking it could add much more though I am curious and eager to see if I can take it. I'm not sure if its me honestly evaluating the situation or if its the hypomania I've been experiencing. The pay raise would be kind of nice too. I do however have a higher risk of staff assault if I take the promotion and I mean, who really wants to get punched in the face? Very unsure of what to do. How much has stress affected your bp? Have promotions lead to stressors and more drastic episodes?

[thickntired]

Stress from work drove me into mania every time. I had to go on ssdi after losing 2 jobs in 2 years. I had difficulties dealing with bosses and coworkers. I was very paranoid and fearful if losing my mind.

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[Victoria'smom]

I use to be existent at stress. It would throw me into a euphoric hypomania and I'd be able to get everything done. There's nothing like completing a 10 page paper in under a half hour and getting an A on it. Now stress throws me into a horrible dystopic mania that threatens hospitalization. If you like the job take it if you can't handle it you can drop back down as soon as there is an opening for your old job.

[Trippin2.0]

I used to thrive on stress, it also pushed me up, and I was performer of the year... Then all of a sudden it causes the opposite, crippling depressions, agitation and the feeling of coming undone at the seams...

My advice? You never know until you try.

Find out if the promotion has a probationary period. That way you could take the job on a "trial basis"...

Here its usually 3 months long, which is enough time to see if you'll sink or swim. I love probationary periods for this reason, it gives myself and the employer a timeframe to see if I'm right for the job, and all the while I have a contingency plan in place should it go south.

Idk what the downside (besides a bp thingy) would be in persuing the promotion. I do know that missed opportunities never sit well with anyone and the only pure failure we ever contend with is in never trying at all...

If trying is a definite option, then I urge you to go for it. At worst, you learn your limitations and apply them in future, at best you exceed your expectations.

[psychc]

Stress could be a bad idea. No money increase is worth it...

[BipolaRNurse]

I'm doing something similar....I just accepted a state government job that's completely different from anything I've ever done before. I almost didn't, because I've had a very bad time with my BP the past couple of years and I'm terrified that I'll decompensate and make a mess out of things.

But I'm doing it anyway, because I HAVE to try---I can't give up on myself with another 11 years of work ahead of me. More than that, I'm tired of allowing bipolar disorder to define me; if I don't at least try to challenge myself a little, the illness wins. And that is just unacceptable.

I think you should go for it. The things we tend to regret most in life are the things we didn't do and the chances we didn't take. If it doesn't work, it doesn't work, but you don't want to be kicking yourself five years from now because you didn't try.

Wishing you the very best. Please keep us posted as to what you decide and how it goes.

[token451]

I think I am going to pause the idea of taking the promotion until after graduate school apps are due and I can get a little wedding planning out of the way. I'm seeing how much my stress level is going up this past month and I doubt it would be smart to take on one more thing until I get something off of my plate. Thank you all for your input. Who knows, I may end up taking in down the line but I think it is a smart choice to pass it up right now.

[couldntkelpit]

Originally Posted by token451

I was recently offered a promotion at work and I am unsure if I should take it. My job is decently stressful and taking it could add much more though I am curious and eager to see if I can take it. I'm not sure if its me honestly evaluating the situation or if its the hypomania I've been experiencing. The pay raise would be kind of nice too. I do however have a higher risk of staff assault if I take the promotion and I mean, who really wants to get punched in the face? Very unsure of what to do. How much has stress affected your bp? Have promotions lead to stressors and more drastic episodes?

This reminds me of a situation I had a few years ago. I was coming off of disability, having gradually built up to a point where I could work full time. I asked for full-time, and was told okay, but I would also have to take other responsibilities as well. It was very stressful because of deadlines, and I had the workload of about two full-time people (actually, it had been two full-time jobs). At the beginning I would experience huge floods of adrenaline as I met deadline after deadline. Since there were always deadlines, it didn't seem like my chemicals had a chance to normalize. After about a year or more of constant adrenal flow, I stopped feeling stressed out and adrenalized. Good, right? Nope. I had become desensitized and my adrenal glands pooped out.

Hello, Fibromyalgia.

Bipolar disorder is no joke. It hurts our physical bodies. It can cripple you for life physically as well as mentally. Please manage your environment, don't put yourself in a difficult situation. Bipolars need to handle themselves gently. You'll be the only one who can gauge the stressfulness of that situation for yourself. Don't put yourself in a situation where you can get hurt.

[couldntkelpit]

Originally Posted by token451

I think I am going to pause the idea of taking the promotion until after graduate school apps are due and I can get a little wedding planning out of the way. I'm seeing how much my stress level is going up this past month and I doubt it would be smart to take on one more thing until I get something off of my plate. Thank you all for your input. Who knows, I may end up taking in down the line but I think it is a smart choice to pass it up right now.

I hadn't seen this post.

Good luck to you, and thanks for being so level-headed about it and taking care of yourself.