Healthcare Professionals with Bipolar

Hi all,

I am wondering if there is anyone out there that works in the medical field and has bipolar. Working with Bipolar is challenging to say the least and each type of job has it's own set of issues. I have brittle bipolar and have been through hard stuff this past year with med changes, hospitalizations and a course of ECT. I am currently in the midst of another difficult time having depressive, manic and mixed episodes. I am working with my PDoc adjusting meds again. I am beginning to wonder if I will be able to continue in the field I am in. I work in the Operating Room - I am a Surgical Technologist. I work 3 days a week fortunately. I have been exempted from working a night shift that was just implemented and try to give away my night call. It's really hard working all of the different shifts that we have to cover.... My doctor said to me today that she is surprised that I am able to work. Put things in perspective a little. I try to stuff things and tend to put taking care of myself last. I have been really struggling with my mood at work, I have been snapping at people, saying mean things, on the verge of tears during surgery, etc...

I was just wondering if there are other people out there that work in the medical field and can relate to the unique set of issues that surround that. Are you able to work? How do you deal with trying to care for patients when you aren't at your best? How do you cope with the stress of the environment?

Any thoughts or suggestions would be truly appreciated...

I'm not in the medical field, however, I hold a pretty high position in a well respected company in the SE U.S. and I had the same comments from my pdoc, "I'm surprised you have/kept a job". I used to work overnights for about 9 months and it was pure hell and I barely made it. Ironically, what drives me to keep my job is anxiety. Strict routine has been key in balancing my mood. If things start getting too chaotic, I have to remove myself. Are you in therapy?

I am not currently in therapy. I have been seeing my Pdoc every few weeks to check in as I have been going through some med changes - AGAIN. She told me yesterday at my appointment that I have "Brittle" bipolar. I could have told her that. Although it feels good to have things validated. I have been in therapy in the past and had a great therapist for a while but, unfortunately she was not covered under my insurance and she was $100/hr. Do you see a therapist? If so, do they help you work through some of the frustrations and angst of dealing with this illness? Or do you have certain things that you are dealing with specifically.
It is scary to think about pursuing a different career path. It is also difficult to come up with a job that I can earn as much as I do. My degree is so specific. I do know that I have to take care of myself and that my mental health is also worth a lot. But, I also have to earn a certain amount in order to be able to pay our bills, rent, etc. I guess I am just trying to talk this out and I truly appreciate your response. My husband is a wonderful guy but he just doesn't really get my illness. He doesn't know what to do and when I try to talk to him he doesn't know what to say or he will start making jokes. I have stopped trying to talk to him. He just sees the financial part of it. Sorry to ramble...

I am a Dr (anaesthetist) but due to BP I am currently not practising. Whether or not I get back into it remains to be seen.

There are def challenges being in the healthcare profession with BP. A big one I found was how bigoted my registering body was about MI - and how much I had to jump through hoops for them in order to continue working.

Having access to dangerous stuff and things to self medicate I also found was a big issue.

Working nights used to send me high, and tiredness was not helpful either.

I personally did not find the stress of work a trigger in and of itself.

It certainly is hard work and if you want to discuss it more feel free to keep posting here or PM me and I will try to help

Cracked

Hello!

Well, I'm not technically a healthcare professional I guess, but I'm a research psychologist doing research in health care settings, so I have a lot of contact with people with mental illness and professionals working with people with mental illness.

I find being in research has its own set of challenges. I trained for 8 years to become a psychologist after deciding that I wanted to do something with my own experiences of mental illness. Although my PhD was in dementia, my first post-doctoral position was in a bipolar disorder research team- somewhere I thought I could make a difference. Big mistake. I was faced with academic high-flyers who really had no idea what bipolar was like, and didn't really want to know either. All they cared about was getting funding in and publishing papers. My own experiences were completely invalidated by the constant refusals to pay any attention to the real issues faced by people with bipolar. This all contributed to me becoming unwell, and eventually I was held under a section 3 for over 3 months in hospital. The management treated me really badly- I didn't expect to be bullied and discriminated against by a well known mental health research team within a highly regarded university. I never really got back to form after all of that, and after a second hospitalisation I resigned. I will always remember one of the professors there telling me that 'my problem' was that I wanted to help people.

Luckily I got a new position at another university very quickly, and I'm back to dementia research. I have recently been asked to join a mental health research team at this university, but I have declined- I won't be putting myself in that position again for my own sanity. There are some great researchers out there in mental health, but it's the powerful ones at the top who have all of the control, and unfortunately they are not always the best and most empathic people. My mental health is now better than it has been in a long time, and I am so glad I walked away from my last job. I plan to spend the rest of my career working with people with dementia, and luckily it seems like my new colleagues actually care about the people we work with.

I see a therapist every week, a community psychiatric nurse every week, and a consultant as and when required. Many people seem surprised that I hold a job down, but I find that being occupied is good for me. I did not disclose my condition to occupational health at my current university after some unhelpful responses in my last post, but I am due to see an independent occupational health advisor next week for advice regarding staying well in my job.

If your job isn't suiting you, it might be best to try something different. If you don't try, you won't know whether things can be better or not. Sending you lots of good wishes!

Keenie