What exactly makes Biploars unable to work

I am diagnosed Bipolar recently.
I am already on SSDI for Severe Anxiety and Substance Abuse Disorders.

I did not have the Biploar diagnosis at the time of my application.

I will eventually be reviewed by SSDI for the conditions of Anxiety and Substance abuse to see if I improved...and I know that they only care about the conditions I was approved for during review (to see if I am staying in treatment and to see if there was improvement).

But, I wonder too how much my Bipolar was mistaken for Anxiety? And I see people saying all the time that there Drs say they can't work because of Bipolar...What about your Bipolar makes you specifically unable to work? Especially if medication is available to ease the symptoms?

With me it was the deep depression and anxiety that were symptoms of my bipolar that made the difference. They were both excruciating and have not improved with treatment.

I'm on SSDI for anxiety as well as depression. I'm also due for a review here soon. My meds help with the depression, but I'm still having quite a bit of anxiety. I don't know how it will go since I'm not being hospitalized as much. I was also diagnosed Bipolar after I received SSDI, but the anxiety is still bad so I may not have a job for a while.

Fharriage....I was never hospitalized for anxiety and never diagnosed with Bipolar at my approval...and I was approved for SSDI.

And with bipolar..one of my main symptoms is only getting 3-4 hours of sleep a night...memory is affected by that (and has been proven in my case with hospital testing)...they determined it is hard for me to learn or maintain pace. The report i have says I would need a break every 15 minutes because i otherwise become distracted.

I don't know of any job that will give anyone a break every 15 minutes.
I don't think your post was very compassionate toward mental illness.

I have PTSD and anxiety in addition to BP, more prone to depressive episodes than maniac. Some of the symptoms overlap between all three, however. For the BP, if not regulated-

It is that when I am depressed: I cannot function as putting one foot in front of the other is hard enough let alone getting out of bed to get into work is an issue. So showing up is an important part of keeping a job.

When hypomanic or manic: I have problems concentrating and with focus especially with the insomnia; am easily distracted; am disorganized and flighty, not finishing what I start; am irritable; and if have grandiose thoughts, it impacts what I think I can do and get done, then taking on too much and promising more than I can do. I also tend to have no filter with what I say in this state and am brutally honest; some things are best left unsaid. All harms working relationships and job performance. It is hard to keep a job this way too.

It took a long time to find the right combination of medications and therapy. I was stable for some time, got off of SSDI and with my Mom passing and Dad being diagnosed with stage 4 prostate cancer with a a few months left, I have been thrown for a loop. A started to slide and now cannot work at all, despite meds and therapy. I am back on SSDI again, much to my dismay and thankful all at the same time time.

a tendency to over-react to things

becoming excessively hostile to others when there is some conflict

talking non-stop and not listening

being too easily distracted

The "usa ssdi" thread that's active in this forum...I just described what led up to my disability and why I still can't work. Sorry, I don't know how to link but I described it there. I have anxiety disorders, too.

I'm also under review. I got a letter stating so over a year ago. I got kind of worried, but decided worrying wouldn't help a thing. I thought it just went away because the SSA never contacted me again until a few days ago. They want me to provide information about any hospitalizations. I wrote those down (actually, my partner had to fill it out for me, as I just got out of IP, unfortunately).

I think that my anxiety is a huge toll on me. I think my bipolar disorder is like an awful giant, an evil beast, that rears its ugly head when I'm overcome with stress.

If stress did not exist, I think I could work. But no stress, none. A pipe dream. Take care.

How does my BP affect my ability to work:
Paranoia- So I don't talk to strangers, don't go out, can't be left home alone
Delusional thoughts- mostly of self harm, so again can't be left home alone
Self Harm/suicidalness- can't drive
Noise- Everything is too loud including muffled voices
concentration / ability to organize thoughts - no longer exists
Erratic sleep patterns
Inability to preform self care acts consistently- no one wants to interact with someone who hasn't showered or changed in a week
Inability to consistently remember to eat
memory problems
inability to get along with peers
crying spells

This is all on medication. I can go on but I think that's a good start

You have said something soooooo useful to everyone who has been slapped with the bipolar label:
"...an awful giant, an evil beast, that rears its ugly head when I'm overcome with stress."
Now...get a chair, and command the "beast" to sit apart from you. Congratulations! You have taken step 1 in casting this Destroyer out of your personality and spirit. I am speaking from experience.

So much of therapy for bipolar disorder fails because too many attributes that have nothing to do with the physiology of what's going on in your brain are present at the place-in-time where a clinician had to choose an ICD-10 code for what they observed.

Bodies change, circumstances change,diets change, habits change, budgets change, time keeps moving forward...
I think you might get it (how you can influence your own changes)- but I'm trying to keep it as simple as possible.

What are you willing to do? Your will is the answer to this merry-go-ground of the parasitic and self-fulfilling prophecies.

I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal savior, that was my choice of what I did with my will.
You're free to choose for your life-where's the voice your victory?

[quote=Misssy2;5521776]Fharriage....I was never hospitalized for anxiety and never diagnosed with Bipolar at my approval...and I was approved for SSDI.

And with bipolar..one of my main symptoms is only getting 3-4 hours of sleep a night...memory is affected by that (and has been proven in my case with hospital testing)...they determined it is hard for me to learn or maintain pace. The report i have says I would need a break every 15 minutes because i otherwise become distracted.

I don't know of any job that will give anyone a break every 15 minutes.
I don't think your post was very compassionate toward mental illness.[/quote}

Well, I don't know about anyone else, but Mental Illness has been a HUGE JERK to me, and owes me back everything it has stolen,killed and destroyed in my lifetime, and doesn't deserve my human compassion.
I don't have any compassion towards the Beast (Mental Illness), I just have a lengthly invoice..and...and an incredible team of women I work with in a pharmacy who have also found a way to find the will to be in the workforce and learn through various histories which contain mental disorders and other health problems. I hope and pray for you right now that you become surrounded by wise counselors and coaches who can get you back to your true person hood. Don't give up

There was "no" compassion. If "your" symptomatic you should know. Others are "really" struggling and don't have to ask why.

Stresses they exacerbate my symptoms. If I could find a low stress job that actually paid a sustainable wage I'd love to work. I've not been hospitalized lately cause I have low stress.