[Theresa1991]

I went to a bipolar self support group today. None of the others had a regular job. Are you able to hold a job?

I am high functioning but it kills me to go to work regularly.

[Shazerac]

I held a job for 40 years. A lot of different jobs, but I worked and yeah it was hard. I'm retired now and am extremely grateful for that.

[Thaine]

I can hold specific jobs that are compatible with my BP and have no problem with my missing work on bad days. But I can't do most minimum wage type jobs. Starting off, working with kids was the easiest for me, now I'm trying to advance myself and working with a disability program to help me get a job with accommodations.

Yeah.

I'm a software engineer and have a master's. USA bred and raised.

I'm 25, so I have many years ahead of me, but I'm allowed to work from home whenever/wherever I want. That's the beauty of the software industry!

[wildflowerchild25]

I have trouble when I'm in an episode but I've only lost one job to this illness, and it was just a summer job. Even though I had to take extended leaves multiple times at my old job I wasn't fired. I don't think my new job would be so forgiving. We will see if I destabilize how it goes.

[BipolaRNurse]

I worked for 35 years, but did a LOT of job-hopping in that time. Finally I became too disabled to work and went on SSDI in 2015. I can't even imagine going back to work at this stage of life---I'm pushing 60 and no one wants to hire older people, especially not in healthcare. I can't do manual labor because of my physical problems, and of course I can't take pressure and am forgetful so I'm unable to work as a nurse. It sucks, but it is what it is.

I am a teacher in my 31st year of teaching -- all but my first year in the same school district. My teaching and those kids have been my salvation. They've kept me directed, focused, and busy. I'm the primary income in our home, so I've just had to make it work. With three children and a seriously ill husband, I just kept doing what I do. I've been fortunate. I'm pretty high functioning. I've been hospitalized many, many times, but one of the things teaching affords me are summers and holidays where I could work my hospitalizations often (not always) around those weeks off.

[gina_re]

I've pretty much been working nonstop since I was 16. My diagnosis didn't come until my mid 20s which will explain all the job hopping around that time. But once I stabilized around 2009, my job stability has remained. I was at my previous job for four years, and I started my current job in April of 2013. However, since my current job is more stressful, I've had more episodes to deal with. My meds have changed and I have been hospitalized twice. Now in cases like these it comes down to employer policies that can help or hurt someone that needs the time off. In my case I am lucky that my employer has worked with me, but I know this isn't always the case. Between the fact that I really enjoy my job, the flexibility of my employer and my desire to be able to continue supporting myself, I find a way to make it work. I take it day by day because I can't predict how long this will last.

[mommyto3furballs]

I can't find a job at all and I'm on a disability pension. I want to work but having issues with housing and looking at moving in the spring

[Icare dixit]

I'm not USA bred and raised. That must be my problem.

I do agree the software industry is forgiving. Sellers' market.

But it's work that I'd rather not do. Never again. It's for those with a rational and one-track mind. But I can't afford to pay someone else to do it for me. I'm bootstrapping. Very slowly.

BP taught me to bootstrap. But mostly hebephrenic depression did. Schizomania and BPD make it hard if not impossible to do paid work. Now I do important work instead and I try to finish a product that will do good but also allows me to support myself financially without claiming benefits (not that there's something wrong with that but I don't trust large, bureaucratic organisations and most of today's politicians).

At any rate, I'll do good. So that makes me pretty much unemployable in the private sector and I'm not qualified to work as a teacher, in health care or doing research. I do try to support all these things via the private sector. Best of both worlds, in a way.

Edit:
I also try to support the creative industry, but that's what I'll be doing last, pretty much. Or I'll sell the plans.

[JustJace2u]

I work full time, 40+ hours a week and go to school 1-2 nights a week. It's definitely no cake walk, but I push myself to the max. That's probably why I ended up being suicidal and in the hospital last month.

[along4theride]

I can hold a job, but at this stage, I am severely under employed. I am in my early 50's and back to doing a job I held at age 18, prior to education and years of professional experience. I lost my long-standing corporate gig almost four years ago. The stress, unrealistic corporate expectations, and the introduction of a young boss all did me in. First time I was diagnosed and then send to PHP, which saved me, but not my job. I've been in and out of unemployment and low wage jobs since. I tried contracting but can't handle day in day out solitude. Brings on depression and I shut down, and it turns out employers don't like that.

I've been unsuccessful getting work in my former field -- I have been beat out for every job by people 20 years younger than me, even if my skills are a better fit. Throw some pretty sucky depression in there and my belief in my abilities is pretty much shot now.

So I am lucky to be working my low wage job right now, even though I am facing bankruptcy. On good days, I am completely convinced that I could hold down any of the 70 hour pressure cooker jobs in my former field. On bad days, which are more frequent, I believe I may be doing the best I can.

[WhiskeyGirl]

I used to be able to.

[mossanimal]

Not. Until I started working for myself and having a family. I struggle so much with the urges to do something else... But I just can't. I've quit or been fired from all the real jobs I've had. And quit the Peace Corps and my PhD as well. The one thing I stuck with for a long time was working on dive boats in California. It was a dream and perfect for somebody like me. I miss that so much. But I would never regret meeting my wife and leaving California. Who can even afford to live there anyway.. especially on dive crew wages.

[mossanimal]

I could be generalizing and misunderstanding... but I wonder about the difference between those with Bipolar II and Bipolar I. My understanding of the textbook cases is that people with Bipolar I can have long periods of stability between episodes as opposed to Bipolar II temperament.. which seems to be more rapid cycling or longer and more frequent periods of depression. For myself I wonder if my periods of hypomania are on a longer scale than I recognize (based on such constant erratic behavior and risky nonsense).. with longer periods of depression so that I'm always in some kind of 'state' leading to constant upheaval.

I also realize that people with Bipolar I AND comorbid conditions can complicate this generalization.

Got hired in April, fired by August due to symptoms flaring up. I'm looking for a new job right now to see if I can work part time. I definitely won't be able to work full time but I think having something to do will be helpful for me.

[MiddayNap]

My father has been diagnosed with Bipolar 2 and I've noticed it is the monotony of his jobs that tends to get to him after a time. He gets into these rather depressive, irritable moods wherein he skips work and, at times, turns to drink. He's lost quite a few jobs this way.

[AlittleUnsteady]

I've never been fired, but I'm only in my 20's. I've only been diagnosed the last two years, but right before I was, my boss was targeting me. She found out I had a mental illness and she would try to find any little thing to get me into trouble. Even made up stuff. The stress of this caused me to have to be hospitalized. Unfortunately, when you work in healthcare, you have to tell HR any and all diagnoses anytime you have been out of work on medical leave. Now that I'm on the right meds, you can't tell I have issues as much. There are times I am triggered, but I'm able to control myself enough to go somewhere private. I also have a new boss, and she is great! This makes things a lot easier for me. It is still very difficult because I'm still terrified that I'll do something wrong that I'll get fired for, but things seem to be looking up more than before.

[AlittleUnsteady]

Originally Posted by mossanimal

I could be generalizing and misunderstanding... but I wonder about the difference between those with Bipolar II and Bipolar I. My understanding of the textbook cases is that people with Bipolar I can have long periods of stability between episodes as opposed to Bipolar II temperament.. which seems to be more rapid cycling or longer and more frequent periods of depression. For myself I wonder if my periods of hypomania are on a longer scale than I recognize (based on such constant erratic behavior and risky nonsense).. with longer periods of depression so that I'm always in some kind of 'state' leading to constant upheaval.

I also realize that people with Bipolar I AND comorbid conditions can complicate this generalization.

I think, and I could be wrong, Bipolar 1 has a higher probablility of having psychosis. Also, Bipolar II is a lot of depressive symptoms.

[Icare dixit]

Originally Posted by mossanimal

I could be generalizing and misunderstanding... but I wonder about the difference between those with Bipolar II and Bipolar I. My understanding of the textbook cases is that people with Bipolar I can have long periods of stability between episodes as opposed to Bipolar II temperament.. which seems to be more rapid cycling or longer and more frequent periods of depression. For myself I wonder if my periods of hypomania are on a longer scale than I recognize (based on such constant erratic behavior and risky nonsense).. with longer periods of depression so that I'm always in some kind of 'state' leading to constant upheaval.

I also realize that people with Bipolar I AND comorbid conditions can complicate this generalization.

Rapid cycling is more likely to be part of BP-I. Psychosis is unlikely to be a primary problem, but psychosis may be the result of depression. It's easier to be hypomanic or depressed for periods longer than 3 months than it is to be manic. You'd probably be dead, pretty much, when severely manic for more than 3 months straight. But mixed episodes can last much longer. Recovery from depression is probably relatively fast.

So the depression is probably more chronic for those with BP2, I agree.

Edit:
Severe mania for a long time is (pretty much) guaranteed to cost you your job. Long periods of depression are really different. More with BP-II can perform at least adequately for longer periods of time. Psychosis doesn't make it hard, but often impossible.

[Unrigged64072835]

I served 22 years in the military, and 8 years civil service. It's a highly specialized job so no prospects of going back in it. Plus I need a security clearance. While I feel well enough to go back to work, physical issues would knock me out of most entry-level jobs. I also don't know how much stress I can handle. I had a nervous breakdown at my last job.

[Icare dixit]

In my experience, severe depression is easier to recover from.

You could argue SZ "episodes" are even shorter and more severely psychotic. The impact is such that there's not enough time for recovery so that the problems become chronic.

BPD is more primarily psychotic than BP2. It's always borderline psychotic, borderline schizophrenic/crazy. It's (secondarily) neurotic like SZ (just borderline).

[Miss Laura]

Unfortunately lost my last job due to ill health.... I had been working for 10 years prior to this

[MobiusPsyche]

I'm fortunate to be able to hold a professional job.

I did have to move employers once due to my illness but it is okay now.

[Yoda]

Possible trigger:

I worked ~ 25 years but have not worked since Sept 1999 when my abuser came to where I worked and threatened to kill me there.