Disclosing BP to your employer

Just wondering...

For those of you who work (or have worked), have you disclosed your BP? I've thought about it, but I'm a bit scared of how they might react. Like, I don't want them using it as an excuse to fire me. (Yes, they can't fire me for being BP, but they might make up an excuse like "you don't work hard enough") I also don't expect people to keep "secrets".

Thoughts? How did you disclose?

I've never come out and said I have bipolar to my employer but they know I have some sort of mental health issue (I've said depression) because I've been out of work so many times. They have been very supportive of me. But I did tell my summer employer I had BP and even though I had worked there for five summers with no incidents (and indeed won employee of the week every year) he didn't hire me back for the following summer. I regret telling him my dx. He didn't even contact me to let me know; he just didn't send a rehire email and let me figure it out on my own.

So really it could go either way.

What do you do for a living? That plays a part I feel. I've never told my employer about my bipolar. My old pdoc said NEVER DO IT. Like se knows anything.
I'm a hairdresser though and we all laugh in the back room about the various psychiatric drugs we have on our purses. I say " Ativan" for "anxiety" and leave it at that. Truth is I share it when other people have anxiety and I take it because I tremor when I get too manic and have to stand still. It's takes me down one tiny notch so I can be effective and hide. Lol

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Sorry your summer employer did that to you.

That's pretty much what I'm afraid of. I don't want to lose my job just because I'm BP. I consider myself a good employee just like you, so if they fired me, I'd know it's because of the BP thing.

I'm a software engineer.

Sometimes I've wanted to take time off because of BP, but I'm afraid to disclose my BP to my employer.

I've never told anyone about my mental health issues, so they probably assume I have no problems.

I've disclosed it to myself, yes.

I still haven't accepted it. Actually, I've effectively fired myself. I'm not gonna pay people being that unproductive.

I wouldn't tell if I were you. Only if they're likely to fire you based on any symptoms.

For example, when manic, I try to rewrite the entire codebase, making it so versatile that it's gonna solve all the world's problems, just because only I can see the bigger picture (not entirely untrue, definitely), before teatime.

Often it takes a bit more time. I'm extremely productive but not in the short-term if at all.

That's why I needed to start my own business to solve all the world's problems. That way I can be productive any way I like.

Mania is great for software design but not for solving problems in the short-term. Or, in my case, actually producing code. I need to plan based on my mental state.

But if there's no problem, now or likely in the future, why tell?

In my case, they could tell the mood changes anyway. And every software engineer is at least somewhat different, odd, so who cares?

I wouldn't share. If you function well enough that people might think you have no problems, blame the time off on something else. You don't want someone to use your illness against you. Also never give someone a reason not to trust you. It's sad but true that bipolar scares people

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Never had an employer. Sans a year in the rat race. Pushing insurance for the biggest.
Never new I had any condition to tell about. Even if I knew, I will never say.
You are the slave of what you say, and the master of what you keep.

One day I had a mental breakdown right in the middle of a busy shift at the bakery and I had told my supervisor that I wanted to kill myself and that I needed to seek treatment. my supervisor was actually very understanding about the situation when I told him that I was bipolar and explain to him what the imbalance in my brain chemistry does to my moods. They took me to see the plant manager and I explain to him what was going on and the plant manager had basically said we want you to get better, go get your treatment I'm giving you the rest of the week off. After I got back out of the hospital for my treatment they saw a huge difference in my personality a mood and realized that my bipolar disorder can be treated successfully if given the right amount of time to be treated. Since then I have never been denied a promotion or been overlooked for another job. if you have to explain to your employer about your disorder the best thing is to be honest and truthful and let know your disorder may require you to take time off. Most employers that terminate employees with mental illness can get sued and have your job reinstated. I wouldn't share your condition upfront, but on a need to know basis like I did.

I ended up in the hospital for 2 weeks while I was employed last December. I had only been working there two months so I was so scared they would fire me. I didn't immediately disclose but they probably figured it out, since I got the social worker to send them an official letter - I should have realized that since they were a non profit working with the disabled public they would recognize the part of the hospital the letter came from, but I just wanted to cover all of my bases and make sure they knew I was legit in the hospital and not faking to get out of work.

When I got back I disclosed to my immediate supervisors, and they were really nice about it but encouraged me not to disclose it any further, so I didn't. Unfortunately I got moved to a new position within the company, with a new supervisor. Because they didn't know, I got in trouble for calling in sick too much (they thought I was just trying to get out of work, wouldn't take mental health as an excuse.)

I don't have a job right now, but I'm getting help from an agency that helps people on disability find work. I want my next job to be disability friendly just in case.

This is the fourth employer that I've disclosed to, and I took a huge gamble as I did so in my interview.


I figured it would be a huge reflection on them and whether I even want to work for them as its a Private Rehab Facility, which obviously provides psych services... (Read me probing for stigma)


Also I disclosed so that I could arrange to have one day off for therapy and dbt or work half day upfront, as opposed to thinking up a long term lie.


All four employers were very supportive and non judgmental. The place I was working at when I first got dxd even arranged transport to and from my appointments, and offered me time off whenever I became too "frazzled".

I worked for the government, so it would take an act of God to fire me. However, I still didn't disclose my MI until I applied for disability retirement. Then my supervisor had to know.

It's none of their damn business.

I have yes but I would never tell where I work now. I figure it's none of their business because I've never been a danger to anyone else.

I wouldn't disclose. In part because I'm afraid they'd get rid of me for something else but really for the BP.

More importantly, I would have no reason to believe that they would know anything about BP, that, for example, most of us have periods (however long or short) of 'baseline' during which we're ok. If I have to call in sick for MI issues, I make something up.

That said, if I were to have a total breakdown at work, I might have to. I actually did work a bit through a full-blown manic episode where I used to live, but I never told my boss, obviously though she knew I was f***** up.

When I'm at baseline BP-wise, it's my anxiety (and memory issues) that really mess with my ability to work, but I wouldn't want to disclose anxiety either, I'd be afraid they'd think I wasn't able to do my job (it's very very hard to, actually, but I do the best I can, and can manage most of the time, despite panic attacks).

When doing acute ECT treatment for a month last year, I decided to tell my boss. She was more than understanding. She even offered to drive me to-from sessions.

Damn near everyone that I work with in my office knows...
So far, no issues..

I haven't said anything to my employer. I've debated on applying for FMLA, but am skeptical.

I never disclosed but I did tell my boss I needed to go home because I was sick from some psych meds the doctors were trying. There is no right/wrong or Good/bad way to do it. It depends on your personal relationship with employers and also perhaps why you are disclosing.

If you work for a large company with a human resource department and you are looking for help with time off, FMLA or job protection, then human resources would be the place to go. If you are looking for help or support directly from your boss or co-workers, you'd tell them directly. In some cases, telling people will turn out fine, and for the better. In other cases, disclosing will become a nightmare. I'd only disclose if I was sure it would have a positive outcome. Good luck on your decision.

I have never disclosed it. I was recently hired at a new company last month and I chose "choose not to disclose" when it asked me about disability (which includes mental health). I am very private about myself and even if something happened that affects work because of my bipolar I wouldn't tell them, I would rather lie about it than have anyone know.

Although my diagnosis is relatively new, my therapist encourages me not to share even with my family due to the stigma around bipolar & the tendency for people to immediately think of the most severe end of the spectrum (i.e. headlines that read "Shooter suffers from Bipolar Depression"). I am still weighing that against the isolation that comes along with it. I don't think that I'll ever disclose at work though. I'd prefer to be vague and say "neurological disorder" or say nothing at all...another debate I'm still having with myself.

This was helpful for me:

My best to you!

I have told my employer, even shared my part of my psych eval. with them with no issues. Told some good friends, family and even a couple of people I dated. So far sharing has not created any issues for me. Everyone has been supportive. Maybe that is not same as everyone else's situation, but that is my situation.

I would advise against disclosing at work if at all possible. I got burned twice and will never again share my diagnosis with anyone who doesn't have a need to know. Employers fall into that category, and they also have offices full of lawyers who know how to get around the Americans with Disabilities Act, so don't expect the ADA to protect you.

Seriously, don't disclose unless you are very, very certain of your standing at work and believe your supervisor(s) will be sympathetic. I was a nurse and made the mistake of thinking my bosses would be more understanding because we worked in the healing arts, and boy was I wrong. Of course they couldn't fire me for being bipolar, but they easily found other ways to get rid of me. It sucked, but what could I do? Take them to court on my own, in the middle of an episode brought on by the stress of it all? It wasn't worth it.

I agree. I wouldn't share either. I did once , and they fired me months later saying I had been insubordinate . If you function well then why. There is still to much stigma attached to mental illness.

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