My boss has been complaining about my work ethic. He's noted that my performance fluctuates every month. He even did a hand motion to show that my work ethic was comparable to a roller coaster. This means he's actually noticed my BP, but indirectly.

I'm just mad that he said I don't get a pay raise or the promotion I was promised. I can't help it that I'm rapid cycling and get 1-2 episodes a month! My hypo/manias are 4-7 days; my depressions are 2-3 weeks.

I never told him I'm BP because, well, (1) I don't think he'll care, and (2) he'll just use it as an excuse to **** me over.

I like my job, but not my boss. And I don't know why he even cares about my performance fluctuating. I'm getting things done by their deadlines and I'm not holding anyone back. It's just so stupid!

I'm just ranting... Maybe some of you can relate?

[BipolaRNurse]

I once worked for a company whose corporate nurse consultant found out about my bipolar, and she told me "Your work performance is consistent with your diagnosis". It was probably true, but she didn't need to put it that way. Soon after this, I was fired. Hope it turns out better for you than it did for me.

[Icare dixit]

Keep expectations as low as possible—at all times.

If you finish work before the deadline, start on new work and push/upload work to the server (or similar) just before the deadline.

Never ever raise expectations higher than absolutely necessary. That's rule number one. BP or not.

[LucyG]

Your boss has every right to expect his employees to be able to do a decent job. If that offends you, I'm sorry. If telling him about your diagnosis would help him understand why your performance is so erratic, do so. It will at least help me make sense of what's going on with you.

[Bigmike727]

I wouldn't advise telling your boss about BP, atleast based on my experiences. Most people don't understand and don't care to understand really. No matter what episode I'm in though my work ethic is still high, which is why some people term me "high functioning" which I hate to hear as it implies some people with the illness have it worse than others. Far as I am concerned, all MI sufferers are in the same boat no matter the diagnosis, I say that to mean we all have to deal with people who don't understand or don't care to understand, discrimination, etc. That is why communities like these are so important, it provides a solid support foundation, especially for people with judgemental communities like mine where there is little support.

[mindwrench]

When i worked good jobs, I used to get praise for completing an extreme amount of service calls in a week. Then later I would get reprimanded for taking too much time off, or being seen 300 miles away from my service area in the company truck in the middle of the night. I never discussed mental health with any employers, but I'm sure some of them suspected something especially when I came to work manic.

I have a very strong work ethic, so it's not work ethic, per se, that's been problematic. Constant lateness, volatility, inappropriate behavior, not getting along with people? Yeah, those have happened.
God knows I didn't rack up 39 jobs for no reason (though it's been way, WAY more often a case of me quitting).

But there is one saving grace. One (apparent) rarity: I don't goof off. At ALL. No standing around chit-chatting, phone checking etc. (Hey, there it is: work ethic!)
I don't talk. And if I'm hypo and running motormouth, I don't look up, I don't pause (What? As IF I can't do everything at once! Lol.) Getting a LOT done can "cover a lot of sins" as they say. "Sins" being all the above stuff, plus the inconsistency depressive sludge brings to the picture.

(It is important to note that I've really only ever had super-basic hands-on work. Anything requiring complex thought or social navigation, forget about it. I couldn't look at charts, sit through meetings, etc. Or manage people. That one's positively laughable. )

Alas, between mental and physical issues, I can't do even that enough anymore to get by (and it kills me to have to admit it). But it's my traditional MO.

Bluebicycle, I agree -- if you're getting the work done, it shouldn't matter.

(BigMike, Yes! I hate the term "high functioning" too. It can be very misleading.)

Originally Posted by BipolaRNurse

I once worked for a company whose corporate nurse consultant found out about my bipolar, and she told me "Your work performance is consistent with your diagnosis". It was probably true, but she didn't need to put it that way. Soon after this, I was fired. Hope it turns out better for you than it did for me.

Sorry to hear that

Your experience is exactly why I'm paranoid of telling anyone at work. I'll likely get treated unfairly and possibly fired. And it's all because of sheer ignorance on people's part.

People are just so heartless. We have feelings too!

Originally Posted by Icare dixit

Keep expectations as low as possible—at all times.

If you finish work before the deadline, start on new work and push/upload work to the server (or similar) just before the deadline.

Never ever raise expectations higher than absolutely necessary. That's rule number one. BP or not.

Yeah, I suppose that's true.

I guess it's tricky when bonuses are involved. It's like, I want a great bonus, but I also don't want to work so hard that people have extremely high expectations of me.

Originally Posted by Bigmike727

I wouldn't advise telling your boss about BP, atleast based on my experiences. Most people don't understand and don't care to understand really. No matter what episode I'm in though my work ethic is still high, which is why some people term me "high functioning" which I hate to hear as it implies some people with the illness have it worse than others. Far as I am concerned, all MI sufferers are in the same boat no matter the diagnosis, I say that to mean we all have to deal with people who don't understand or don't care to understand, discrimination, etc. That is why communities like these are so important, it provides a solid support foundation, especially for people with judgemental communities like mine where there is little support.

Yes, I dislike the term "high functioning" as well. A better way to put it (in my opinion) is to say that some people have better coping skills than others.

Using the term "skills" implies that everyone is still in the same boat. However, some people do have more severe BP symptoms than others, which means that they require greater coping skills, and sometimes it's just too difficult to develop those skills, hence disability. But more severe symptoms doesn't imply your situation is any worse than others'. BP is still BP no matter how you look at it.

@Innerzone:

Wow, 39 jobs is a lot! Though, I don't have the greatest track record either. I graduated college in May 2015 and I'm already on my 2nd job. (I quit the first job.)

I don't goof off either. I just get horrible depression and can't concentrate. Plus, I have untreated ADHD, so between depression and ADHD, the term "concentration" doesn't exist. That's precisely why my work performance fluctuates.

Originally Posted by mindwrench

When i worked good jobs, I used to get praise for completing an extreme amount of service calls in a week. Then later I would get reprimanded for taking too much time off, or being seen 300 miles away from my service area in the company truck in the middle of the night. I never discussed mental health with any employers, but I'm sure some of them suspected something especially when I came to work manic.

At my old job, my boss suspected I had metal health issues... so I understand what you mean.

My boss kept asking if I had insomnia since I'd work until 1am and wake up at 4am to do more work. She didn't know that I was manic, but she definitely knew something was up. She had a very keen eye.

Originally Posted by bluebicycle

@Innerzone:

Wow, 39 jobs is a lot! Though, I don't have the greatest track record either. I graduated college in May 2015 and I'm already on my 2nd job. (I quit the first job.)

I don't goof off either. I just get horrible depression and can't concentrate. Plus, I have untreated ADHD, so between depression and ADHD, the term "concentration" doesn't exist. That's precisely why my work performance fluctuates..

The number is over the course of 37 years. (Yeah, still a lot!) I wasn't diagnosed for nearly 30 of those years, so the BP ran amok. It didn't really register how many there were, or that it might be an issue. I was young, ran in high gear most of the time (though the BP started with depression, hypo/mania dominated. Over the years, the depression started taking a bigger proportion). I'd walk away without a thought aside from, "I'll just get another one". The number was compounded by repeatedly moving great distances at the drop of a hypo hat. Adds up. These days, I'm downright scared.

One night, a funny thing. I was seeing a comedian while at the table with someone that I knew to have BP (but they didn't know I also did). As part a joke, the comedian said something about having had 30 jobs. This person and I immediately BURST out loudly laughing WAY out of proportion to the other people. (Followed by oops! )

I'd been considering "outing" myself to this person. Fortunately, I didn't. It would have been fine, except he was prone to innocently oversharing, and was closely associated with someone I worked with who later visciously turned on me. SOOO glad I hadn't! She'd have turned it into a weapon without a second thought. (She disdained people with MI. And had zero compunction about lying). In a perfect world, I'd be all for disclosing at work. But in the real world it's just way too easily used unfairly against us.

[Unrigged64072835]

I would say I had a good work ethic, but in actually work was either feast or famine, and I just rolled with it. It wasn't until the end when I had issues with work. By then my anxiety was going through the roof. Now I don't have much of one; stuff gets done when it gets done. I just don't have the motivation like I used to.