Should You Tell Your Employer that You Have Bi-polar Disorder?

If you have been diagnosed with bi-polar disorder, you have many decisions to make about who to tell and who to leave off the list. It is difficult to make the choices that you will have to make. There are certain implications that people associate with bi-polar disorder which is why you may have to take a lot of time to decide whether you should tell your employer that you have the disorder. Unfortunately, there is still a stigma attached to the words bi-polar disorder. It comes from lack of understanding about the disorder, but your main objective is deciding what is best for your career in this matter.

Advantages of Telling your Employer about your Bi-Polar Disorder

Understanding- Telling your employer that you have bi-polar disorder will bring to light many things for your employer. If you have found yourself crying unexplainably at work, bi-polar disorder will give your boss a better understanding of why this happens. It gives them a chance to help you through those awkward moments.

Bi-polar disorder can be a problem in the workplace at times. In fact, bi-polar disorder can make it nearly impossible to complete your work on some days. If your employer knows that you have the disorder, he/she may be able to at least understand the problem and help bring you back to a grounded position. For instance, you are working on a tight deadline schedule. The project has to be done within 2 hours. This seems to be the time that everyone comes to you to ask questions about things unrelated to the project. This begins to annoy you to the point that you are getting angry. Rather than showing that anger, you will be able to go to the bosses office and talk to him/her in order to bring yourself down from the anger and help you figure out what you can do to get people away from your desk. High levels of stress can be a trigger to a bi-polar episode. When you are feeling too stressed out, it can help that your employer knows about your disorder to avoid any misunderstandings.

Bi-polar disorder is still seriously misunderstood. People are likely to consider you unfit for work simply because you have it. This gives those with the disorder a much harder time finding work. One of the advantages for all bi-polar people in telling their employer that they have it is that it gets the misunderstanding of the disease more understood. The more people understand the disease, the more it will dispel the myths associated with the disorder. In other words, you will help other people in your same position to be more accepted by others.

Advantages of Not Telling your Employer about your Bi-Polar Disorder

The unfortunate thing about bi-polar disorder is that it is often misunderstood. These misunderstandings can make it much harder for you in the workplace. The stigma that comes with bi-polar disorder can be detrimental to you. Your employer and co-workers may not understand that you can, in fact, get the disorder under control and keep it that way. Telling your employer about your bi-polar disorder can create a hostile work environment for you. This is one of the main considerations that you have to take into consideration before telling your employer that you have the disorder.

One of the best advantages of not telling your employer that you have bi-polar is that you won't be looked upon differently. Telling your employer that you have bi-polar disorder may affect the way you are treated in the workplace. It is true that you could be treated worse, but the truth is, you may also be looked upon with pity and be given special privileges which aren't fair to everyone in the workplace. It can really go either way. If you want to be treated just like everyone else, it is wise not to tell you employer about the disorder.

Bi-polar disorder can wreak havoc on your daily work life. It doesn't have to though. Talk to a psychiatrist and get the medication that you need in order to make your life more ordered and "normal". Your normal isn't like everyone else's normal. Consider all of the implications that you may be facing if you tell your employer that you have bi-polar disorder before actually doing so. It could affect your work life in ways that you won't want to deal with.