To tell or not to tell, that can be the big question with bipolar disorder. It’s your choice. There’s still a stigma surrounding mental illness, so you may want to be less open about it. You really don’t need to tell anyone at work about your bipolar disorder. But in certain circumstances, it can be helpful to have a conversation with your supervisor, such as when you need to take off from work for lots of appointments. Being open may be better than having your boss guess about or be surprised by your absences.
Before you discuss absences or other potential accommodations you may need, it may help to educate your supervisor about bipolar disorder. A letter from your doctor or a brochure on the topic may help (I don’t really believe a brochure will cut it, maybe flip file of brochures). Also, be sure to emphasize how any changes you request will help you be a more productive employee.
Nine to five? Think again.
I cannot think of a way someone that has a defined 9 – 5 job can successfully manage a BP diagnosis and a successful career. If you’ve managed to work this out let me know in the comments and share your secret with us all. Many of you may be pretty dismayed at this revelation of mine but here’s the deal: Bipolar Disorder doesn’t keep office hours.
I have a theory (hear me out quick before you refresh your Reddit page). Consider the following people that are known BP sufferers:
Wikipedia – I know – but it’s legit.
…. I trust Wikipedia exposed you to the plethora of wonderful people that suffer BP. At the time of writing this post I could count no more than eight people, eight, on that list that had a nine-to-five.
Most of them too have what you’d call “project orientated” careers. That is to say that these folk work on one project, intensely, for a period of time, perfect it, and the fruits of their labor are ripe for the picking by the masses (I’ll lay off the grandiosity now, got the memo, thanks).
It kinda fits, doesn’t it: work hard here, produce great work and take some time off to recharge the batteries until the next project. This is a strategy that seems to work well for me, but others…. I suspect mostly those with BP-II, respond better to more structure and rhythm. The only reason I have to support this statement is that those with BP-II are less likely to know the signs that they are, in fact, deep within a hypomanic episode, but that’s the very nature of hypomania.
So, let’s work around BP.
There’s some places in the world that have fully embraced the concept of ‘working from home’, flexihours, a self-paced workload, or even part-time work schedules. South Africa, despite what one might read on the internet, is a long way from achieving any of those.
One would expect that with a nearly two and half hour commute into the center of Cape Town every morning that more companies would consider flexi-hours, but here we are.
I feel pretty passionate about this flexi-hours thing. There is no doubt that I produce my best work and at a pace that most developers envy (that’s a lie … all devs work best at midnight hours, sometimes I eat in the day).
Have a conversation about your working hours.
All I’m saying this it’s worth having the conversation with your manager or supervisor or whoever about your most productive working hours and the quality of your work at those hours. Especially if you have project-based work.
Work out a schedule to report back to the power’s that be on the progress you’ve made, figure out a way of recording and documenting the progress you’ve made on a particular task or project and make a concerted effort to connect and communicate effectively with everyone on your team at regular intervals.
A word of caution though: working from home might sound like a thing for you, but remember that people need people so make an effort to get to the office and connect with other people on your team regularly.
If you’re super lucky (and far more disciplined than I) you may even be able to negotiate working back hours that you’ve missed. I however can’t get that right, some days I’ll be working for 16 hours the next I’m lucky if I put in five hours.
Just make sure the work gets done. And make time for you!
I’m still trying to get this one right, but know it’s important: schedule time for you. That means that you should set aside time to eat something, have a nap, go for a walk, call your gran.
Not only does this help with our productivity but it also helps to make sure you keep your connections with family alive, and, if you’re feeling super brave, reconnecting with the friends you’ve lost touch with over the years.
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