Mental Illness and Careers?

[KatWrangler]

Is it possible to have say Bipolar II and still have a successful career?

My husband is ready to get back into the swing of work (he is working part time right now). But he wants to change careers from what his degree is in.

I need some success stories! Can we overcome this illness?

[Satori]

Originally Posted by KatWrangler

Is it possible to have say Bipolar II and still have a successful career?

My husband is ready to get back into the swing of work (he is working part time right now). But he wants to change careers from what his degree is in.

I need some success stories! Can we overcome this illness?

I think it really varies but I do know those with BP are advised to avoid high stress jobs as they can trigger episodes.

[KatWrangler]

thank you. I just wanted some hope that we will go on to have a happy normal life. Instead of living in poverty.

[RiverTam]

If he stays on his medication and sees his therapist/psychiatrist as recommended, he can have a career.

We have a lot of bipolar in my family. People who stay on their medications can have jobs/careers, just like anybody else. My aunt is a computer programmer. Another family member is a research chemist. My grandfather owned and operated a construction company and was a very successful business person. Another family member is a legal secretary.

But the person has to stick with the meds.

[KatWrangler]

He is no problem taking his meds. I know some are resistant, but he is not. Now I do have to remind him because he sometimes forgets. But he does take them.

[HollyBearsMom]

No sure how old your husband is and how many bi-polar episodes he has had but both of those can impact the success (or lack of) of a career.

I have a family member that was diagnosed in his early teens. He is now in his mid twenties. He has had 3 serious episodes that involved hospitlization. Each one does more damage to the brain, impacts the prescription he takes and impairs his ability to stay on the job.

All that said he became a licenced plumber, electrician and contracter. He has a great boss who understands and a great mom and girlfriend that remind him to take his meds.

That is the biggest risk to his job and his ability to stay employed and build his own business. About every 12-18 months either the meds need tweaking or he starts feeling like he doesn't need them anymore and "forgets" to take them.

I would think that if he is on meds that are working for him and he can limit the stresses in his life a career change might actually be a good thing. The key is a good doctor and staying on the meds!

I wish you all the best!

[KatWrangler]

My husband is 45. He has had only 1 hospitalization. That was this past June when he received his diagnosis and was put on 3 different meds.

He has been a liscensed Landscape Architect for 23 years. One of the things that depressed him was he didn't think he was good enough for the career. He wants to go in a different direction. However, if he can use his degree and cross over to another field, that would be ideal. But what? The only thing we can think of is something in the Green Industry.

I know we need to keep the stress level down.

[HollyBearsMom]

Could (would?) he go into urban planning? that seem to be a good transition from what he has been doing. Depending on the nature of the town/city though it could be pretty stressful!

Is there a lot of new construction in your area? A smart house construction manager could be good too. We are starting to see a lot of smart houses being built around here....

[RiverTam]

BTW, a lawyer in my community has bipolar and practiced for 40+ years. He retired last year.

[VisionaryMom]

Originally Posted by RiverTam

If he stays on his medication and sees his therapist/psychiatrist as recommended, he can have a career.

That is not universally true.

KW, I hope that things can work out for you guys. You and my DH would probably be a good support for each other. Your DH and I sound a lot alike.

We're still struggling heavily with the career issues as well. Some days I feel really good about the prospects, and other days I just feel as if nothing will get better. At one point, my life was full of promise and potential - more than that, I suppose. I started college at 12, went full-time at 16. I have degrees. I did exceptionally well.

I was diagnosed at 13 and survived pretty well until around 23. Then everything went downhill, and no matter how much we've tried, I just haven't been able to get it together enough to have a meaningful career.

I could cry just writing that because I never thought I'd be at this point in my life saying that. Here's what I have learned, though.

First, I do work as a freelancer. That kind of career option works well for me because I'm able to write when I'm feeling good but not be tied to my work all the time. I don't do the kind of high-powered journalism that I'm capable intellectually of doing, but right now the type I do allows for the flexibility I need.

I've also found that using my husband as a sounding board works because he's able to hear when I'm getting manic and rein me in (most of the time, anyway) so that I don't over-commit. For a long time, I got into this cycle of over-committing, then falling behind once the mania subsided, then getting depressed, feeling better, over-committing. It was a vicious cycle that I had to work to break.

Another thing I've had to do (and am still working on) is accepting the idea that everyone else's notion of career doesn't work for me. I will never survive at a 9-5. Whether it's the BP or my personality or some combination, I simply will not be able to do it. Getting that out of my head has helped tremendously. I've also had to accept the idea that I probably won't ever have "that" career. There's not one thing for me. I don't know how you are, but my husband does have that thing. He's an applications developer. He's known he wanted to work with computer design since well before computers were standard household items. He's never had any doubt, and that makes it all the more difficult for me to explain to him that I do have doubts -everyday.

I don't want to dampen your spirits on this. I know that I'm lucky in that my husband's income provides for our family. I don't know what I'd do if it didn't because I don't know that I could force myself to hold down a job.

[RiverTam]

Originally Posted by BrandiRhoades

That is not universally true.

I'm sorry that it didn't work out for you.

That has not been the experience of most people in my family. (But my grandfather did start his own business to be able to work around his issues.)

[VisionaryMom]

Originally Posted by RiverTam

I'm sorry that it didn't work out for you.

It's not just me. I would say that if everyone in your family is BP and also has a successful career, then you're anomalies. Career issues are very common among people with BP, and I would suggest it's truer for people with BP II because with common mania, it's possible to exist on the high all the time.

OTOH, I'm only 29. It's not like my life is over, but my BP is very severe. I believe from reading the OP's posts about her husband that he's been in crisis mode for a while now. At this point, I think him finding a career is going to be a difficult road.

I'm all for success stories and don't mean to be a pessimist. It's just that I also think it's important for us to be realistic about this illness. It devastates lives. NAMI reports that 90 percent of all long-term relationships fail when one partner has BP. That's scary! My marriage has been rough lately, but really things are better for us than the vast majority of marriages I know (with or w/o and BP partner). So while I know a marriage *can* survive, I also know how difficult it is.

And that's my point about careers, too. It's certainly possible for him to have a career, but so many factors are really important that real comparisons are difficult. The career issue is a tough one for me because outside BP, everything points to me having a kick-ass professional life. That I don't hurts in an indescribable way. I'm just working now to move toward either peace that it will be okay or a career that works with the illness.

[RiverTam]

Originally Posted by BrandiRhoades

It's not just me. I would say that if everyone in your family is BP and also has a successful career, then you're anomalies. Career issues are very common among people with BP, and I would suggest it's truer for people with BP II because with common mania, it's possible to exist on the high all the time.

1) OP asked for success stories. I gave some to her. She didn't ask for opinions that people with BP are doomed to failure.

2) I never said that everyone in my family has BP.

3) I never said that every person in my family with BP has a successful career. Most of them have found some kind of career, though. In my dad's generation, there were four siblings with BP. 3 of them have successful employment histories. In my grandfather's generation, there were 3 siblings with BP, two of them had successful employment histories. In my generation, 1 out of 3 siblings have BP. The sibling with BP in my generation has a very successful career as a scientist.

4) I never said that people with BP don't have career issues. I said that people in my family with BP have found careers that work for them. That doesn't mean it was easy, just that they managed to make a career out of something.

5) I wouldn't consider you to be someone who doesn't have a career. You are free-lancing. What you don't have is the career that you wanted. Whether you chose to view your freelance career as a success or a failure is your decision.