Bi polar two and working, if you have bi polar one and work please comment too

@asdf Hi asdf I have schizoaffective disorder firstly diagnosed as bipolar I and wonder that too. I would love to get back to work but wonder how I can do it. I am just not the same person as I was before I got my mi. My mind doesnt work well anymore. My complex organizational skills have flown out the window and as for having conversations with complete stranger in rl it is impossible.

Am really looking forward to hearing back from people who are in the trenches who are working with mi's particularly bipolar I and II and schizoaffective disorder and schizophrenia. peax

Hey @asdf and the beautiful @Bunniekins

I was diagnosd with bipolar 2 last year. I'm not entirely sure of the diagnosis. I went back to work part time about a month after I got out of the mental health unit. They didn't really tell me what I had untill I was leaving. I was on meds for 12 months before tapering off. I've been back to full time work for around a year now. Not great with times so that may be a little bit off.

I don't exercise very much in the mornings. I used to more than I do now. I definitely exercise at the gym every day though. I go to my farm fortnightly and thats when I get a break from that. Other weekends I willl go to the gym twice a day. That was what I did before my diagnosis and I think its been beneficial to maintain it. I used to swim a lot, but, haven't done that in the last 6 months.

I've only taken 1 day off since I returned to work, i'm rarely sick. I've maybe had 5 days sick leave in over 10 years of working and 2 or 3 of those were from a bad back. I'm into my mid 40's now as an FYI. I do feel like I need some time off now, trying to get through to christmas. I feel tired mentally, i tortured myself thinking about things I did and should of done when I got into trouble with my mental health. Feel upset my family / friends didn't do more to help Me as I wasn't sleeping and got out of control.

I have a lot of anger, resentment and frustration at my brother and his wife. Its hard to let it go, but, I'm making an effort the last month or two. I'm not on there radar so they shouldn't be on mine.

I should of probably taken a little bit more time off before I got back into the workforce, but, in saying that I probably could of taken months or years off and not really felt any better or worse. In many ways its helped me to stay busy and to get back into the swing of it. I am in financial services and just do office work.

I speak to a psychologist every month or two, that helped a lot early on, but, not so much any more. I really struggle with the physical symptoms and fallout from the neds they had me on and thats harder for me than anything.

Anyways, thats my take on things, if you have any further questions just ask and I will do my best to answer.

Hi @Gazza75 thank you for your reply. Re: Your brother and his wife, my pysch says that bipolar affects personally relationships. So my take is, we see things differently. Obviously we overanalyse things.

Are you on no meds now? Wow, I am on mecication. A mood stabiliser has made the most difference for me, it has kept my moods more even, I will get the depression dip. It's not huge like it was before. The depression still hits me and I am a couch potato but I can still collect the kids from school, do the shopping and go to the gym. Before a mood stabiliser I was stuck, I couldn't funtion. Now I can, not as much as a person without bi polar but I can do things.

@asdf, your welcome..

it's definitely effected relationships, but, I think for Me it happened pre and during when I became manic for the first time. I still have to assign a fair degree of blame to others. I was to caught up in my own little world that I couldn't function properly.

I am not on anything now. Been free for 2 or 3 months. I don't think your meant to talk directly about meds. I was on 2 and 1 really effected my weight. I think for me the depression is ever present and has never really left me. Mostly I feel it for my brother. He's recovered remarkably well, but, he will never be the same nor will his family. I accept that I did some very stupid stuff, but, my brother basically ruined both of our lives through his selfishness and stupidity.

I am glad you can function better with the meds. Maybe just try and add smaller things to your day as you feel able to. Like they say, Rome wasn't built in a day.

@Gazza75 Hi Gazza75 thank you for your insight as going back to work for me is something I would love to do but my pdoc has said it is beyond me. I get conversation muddled and putting structures in place really hard to do. I dont know what I would do other than physical work but even uber driving would be hard as I have no sense of direction even with one of those thingamjiggies to get arouund with I would be stressed to the max. In other words what I am saying is I think my mi has stuffed up my little grey cells so much that I think higher learning is out of the question as well.

I need structure in my day and yet structure is driving me crazy too. How do you cope with the more technical aspects of your work?

Hi @Bunniekins , sorry for slow reply, I didn't get a notification about your post.

I'm not sure I would agree with your pdoc, you may not be able to do a full time job, but, I'm fairly sure you could do a small ammount of volunteer or 'normal' work if it was in a supportive environment or even from your own home. Nearly everyone in my current team spends 90% of their time working remotely and from home. We really only need to get into an office for meetings and to stay 'connected'.

Do you get conversations muddled when you are walking with your neighbour or with your support workers? Maybe it happens, maybe it just something you think about and project to a degree. I think its just a matter of thinking differently.

You could do dog walking, maybe grooming? I have a friend that's been doing that for a few years, she really loves it and is super busy, think she does mainly grooming and washing. My aunty in the UK does dog walking for pocket money.

I think repetition probably helps with the technical aspects of my role. I'm also in a 'back office' position so I get to work at my own speed for the most part. I have certain things I need to get done, but, I don't have anyone breathing down my neck keeping an eye on what I do from minute to minute.

Take care

@Gazza75 I have a degree and would love to be able to use it. It took me 4 years part time to get it and it was hard work. If I could do that I would be the happiest of all peas 🙂

Hi @asdf

I have bipolar and for the first time this year I have had serious concerns about my job. I'm currently off work after a big breakdown and have run out of leave for the first time ever since I began at that place 15 years ago.

I'm due to go back week after next and already I'm terrified. The last few months in particular have been difficult and I have noticed people seem to treat me differently since a smaller meltdown earlier in the year.

The job I do can be seen as high pressure and my psychologist last week suggested I should consider whether to stay at my job or find one less stressful!!??

Prior to this year I have loved my job. I'm not sure what to do next

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