bipolar disorder and work/school: reader comment

Hi, I’m having a tough day depression wise- then I read this comment from Gerry in Australia. It was so positive I wanted to put it here:

Comment:

 

G’Day all I am new to the blog, but would like to say something positive on this issue which I hope will encourage everyone else with bipolar. I’m lucky because I don’t suffer from some of the worst symptoms of bipolar & also was rather old when I had my first psychotic episode. So before that I managed to get a BA with Honours & a Phd. Now I am a full time academic in Politics. It was only after working full time for 7 years that I discovered that I had bipolar. It does impact on my work sometimes, but my Dept. has been very good about making some [ Read More ]

Bipolar Disorder and College

I recently had an email asking if a person with bipolar disorder can finish college.

Well, sure they can! But….

There is always a but…

College is the same thing as work. It’s a stimulating environment with a lot of people and a lot of pressure. Bipolar disorder doesn’t like this. It took me eight years to finish college. I didn’t have a treatment plan then. In fact, I didn’t know I had bipolar disorder.

As with any stressful situation, the solution is planning. You will need a treatment plan before college starts.

I write about this in my Get it Done When You’re Depressed book- there is one specific strategy on getting through college. The whole book talks about making it through tough situations.

I have to be honest and say I can’t go to school full time. It’s too stressful for me- but I can go part time! Many friends of mine with [ Read More ]