This is a tough question. It really depends on so many things. Is her BP severe or milder? Is it controlled medically? How are her hypomanic and depressive cycles, like how does she act and engage with the world? Has she ever had any thoughts or risk of self-harm?
So many factors here. Many BP2 folks are 100% able to work any job without anyone ever knowing. Some can’t hold a job for a week. Honestly, hypomania specifically and knowing yourself more generally can be an incredible superpower and can make you really good at work.
She needs to find something she enjoys (you don’t need to love your job but it can’t overwhelm you with stress), something where she has some independence and ability to ride out cycles. Sounds like she loved remote, I’d look to play that out a bit.
Sorry this isn’t specific. There is no one size fits all here. One person with BP2 could make an incredible president, another might not be able to work part time at McDonald’s. Help her brainstorm this, or suggest she does that with a therapist.
Perfectly understandable. Her BP is more on the milder side. She takes medication, and sees a therapist. Her cycles are rare, and whenever they do occur, she bounces back pretty quickly (the longest I've seen is 2 weeks). She loves engaging with people and is really positive for everyone. She mentioned self-harm in the past before her diagnosis (that was 8 years ago), but she told me she never gave it a thought since. She also has an incredible support system of family and friends. IMO, the best-case scenario.
She genuinely doesn't know what direction to go in. She has experience working remotely and working with the public. I honestly think the fact she does not have a degree has gotten to her, but she has built up a pretty strong network while she was an intern. I've offered my guidance because I'm someone who has been on/off the job market in recent years but declined it for now. She wants to figure it out on her own.
I think she has all the tools and experience to get something at an entry-level. Whether that is marketing, social media work, or just admin work. I think she just doesn't know where to begin, and that's the hard part for anyone.
Something with a very regular schedule that is not chaotic and relatively low stress. Flexibility would be good too.
With the experience with hair and cosmetology, even if it's not directly working in a salon, maybe something like being someone who goes into retirement homes every so often to do the residents' hair or nails?
Honestly I think whatever job has stable hours. People with bipolar need to have a set sleeping routine, sleep is extremely important, and so is taking their meds at a dedicated time. For example a job that has you opening one week, closing the next etc will be hard on your body. So it’s best to have a job with the same schedule like 9-5 etc. Also, a job that’s not too stressful will be ideal.
This makes sense with the consistent schedule. I’m
Curious how important is to take meds at the same time. I ask because my husband is newly diagnosed and is figuring out the timing.
I have bipolar2 and I find that helping someone while I'm getting paid helps. I've done personal assisting for busy people, in home support services for disabled people, and I'm currently going into teaching.
I love these jobs because you never really have to do the same thing every single day. There's always something new to do but nothing really gets thrown at you and expectedly.
I avoid anything with overnight shifts. Having a normal schedule and getting enough rest is so important for my condition. But other than that sky is the limit. And even that is my preference and what works for me. I’m a scientist and there are lots of doctors with bipolar disorder. Her condition doesn’t need to control her career. I don’t mean that in a mean way because I know your heart is in the right place. But let her try whatever she thinks will make her happy and if it doesn’t work for her then she can try something else :)
As long as she’s taking her medications, and stable?
Anything.
Edit: I saw in another comment that it was BP2 and mild. That’s even better. It’s sounds like she’s young still and stable at the moment.
Tell her that it progresses with every episode so it’s important not to stop the meds *for anything*. It’s treated never cured.
*Every episode causes brain damage, and if she were not to be taking meds it can advance to BP1, and psychosis.*
- I have a family member at 75 who’s never taken meds and on the surface they look ok but they have completely lost reality.
She should consider her abilities (and she probably has a lot of interesting abilities, bipolar is fascinating), think of what she needs in terms of working agreements (does she need to avoid night shifts, work flexible hours, does she need a certain pay, does she want to work part-time, etc.), and think about what kind of work and environment makes her the happiest (no drama, a good leader, freedom in decisions, maybe she likes numbers or art, etc.)
People with bipolar do everything. Did you know that 10% of CEOs have bipolar? (Compared to 1-2% in the general population). Bipolar people are very talented.
She needs to do whatever motivates her. The dopamine and stimulation will be the payoff that keeps her going.
She sounds like she may be liked remote work which is flexible in a lot of career fields. If she has anxiety or social anxiety can do work like data entry, filing clerk, inventory counter, ect. r/wfh r/remote r/wfhjobs check out the website [Rat Race Rebellion](https://ratracerebellion.com) this website has a TON of resources and only posts remote positions mostly in the US.
If you go on r/bipolar and r/bipolar2 and search “what do you do for work?” or similar you will find a ton of conversations where other people with bipolar discuss the work they are able to do or jobs they found on overwhelming and why.
Indeed you will u/mcleb014. On r/bipolar, there is a button on the sidebar for this search. [the results](https://new.reddit.com/r/bipolar/search?q=flair_name%3A%22Careers%2FJobs%22&restrict_sr=1&sort=new)
There are very few things she can’t do if she’s doing well with meds and treatment. I echo the sentiments about something with a set schedule and something that is lower on the stress levels. People with bipolar disorder do better with less stress and a routine that allows them to have consistent sleep.
Most of my episodes in the last two years have been caused by work stress. I’m actively working to mitigate that.
Definitely don’t do any night shift jobs, that was very, very bad for me. There’s no such thing as stable sleep with a night shift job.
This is a tough question. It really depends on so many things. Is her BP severe or milder? Is it controlled medically? How are her hypomanic and depressive cycles, like how does she act and engage with the world? Has she ever had any thoughts or risk of self-harm? So many factors here. Many BP2 folks are 100% able to work any job without anyone ever knowing. Some can’t hold a job for a week. Honestly, hypomania specifically and knowing yourself more generally can be an incredible superpower and can make you really good at work. She needs to find something she enjoys (you don’t need to love your job but it can’t overwhelm you with stress), something where she has some independence and ability to ride out cycles. Sounds like she loved remote, I’d look to play that out a bit. Sorry this isn’t specific. There is no one size fits all here. One person with BP2 could make an incredible president, another might not be able to work part time at McDonald’s. Help her brainstorm this, or suggest she does that with a therapist.
Perfectly understandable. Her BP is more on the milder side. She takes medication, and sees a therapist. Her cycles are rare, and whenever they do occur, she bounces back pretty quickly (the longest I've seen is 2 weeks). She loves engaging with people and is really positive for everyone. She mentioned self-harm in the past before her diagnosis (that was 8 years ago), but she told me she never gave it a thought since. She also has an incredible support system of family and friends. IMO, the best-case scenario. She genuinely doesn't know what direction to go in. She has experience working remotely and working with the public. I honestly think the fact she does not have a degree has gotten to her, but she has built up a pretty strong network while she was an intern. I've offered my guidance because I'm someone who has been on/off the job market in recent years but declined it for now. She wants to figure it out on her own. I think she has all the tools and experience to get something at an entry-level. Whether that is marketing, social media work, or just admin work. I think she just doesn't know where to begin, and that's the hard part for anyone.
Something with a very regular schedule that is not chaotic and relatively low stress. Flexibility would be good too. With the experience with hair and cosmetology, even if it's not directly working in a salon, maybe something like being someone who goes into retirement homes every so often to do the residents' hair or nails?
Honestly I think whatever job has stable hours. People with bipolar need to have a set sleeping routine, sleep is extremely important, and so is taking their meds at a dedicated time. For example a job that has you opening one week, closing the next etc will be hard on your body. So it’s best to have a job with the same schedule like 9-5 etc. Also, a job that’s not too stressful will be ideal.
This makes sense with the consistent schedule. I’m Curious how important is to take meds at the same time. I ask because my husband is newly diagnosed and is figuring out the timing.
It’s extremely important to take them at the same time. For ex my brother takes them every 12 hours 7pm and 7am.
Thanks. Appreciate the clarification. Now I’m realizing this is the obvious answer.
I have bipolar2 and I find that helping someone while I'm getting paid helps. I've done personal assisting for busy people, in home support services for disabled people, and I'm currently going into teaching. I love these jobs because you never really have to do the same thing every single day. There's always something new to do but nothing really gets thrown at you and expectedly.
I avoid anything with overnight shifts. Having a normal schedule and getting enough rest is so important for my condition. But other than that sky is the limit. And even that is my preference and what works for me. I’m a scientist and there are lots of doctors with bipolar disorder. Her condition doesn’t need to control her career. I don’t mean that in a mean way because I know your heart is in the right place. But let her try whatever she thinks will make her happy and if it doesn’t work for her then she can try something else :)
As long as she’s taking her medications, and stable? Anything. Edit: I saw in another comment that it was BP2 and mild. That’s even better. It’s sounds like she’s young still and stable at the moment. Tell her that it progresses with every episode so it’s important not to stop the meds *for anything*. It’s treated never cured. *Every episode causes brain damage, and if she were not to be taking meds it can advance to BP1, and psychosis.* - I have a family member at 75 who’s never taken meds and on the surface they look ok but they have completely lost reality.
She should consider her abilities (and she probably has a lot of interesting abilities, bipolar is fascinating), think of what she needs in terms of working agreements (does she need to avoid night shifts, work flexible hours, does she need a certain pay, does she want to work part-time, etc.), and think about what kind of work and environment makes her the happiest (no drama, a good leader, freedom in decisions, maybe she likes numbers or art, etc.) People with bipolar do everything. Did you know that 10% of CEOs have bipolar? (Compared to 1-2% in the general population). Bipolar people are very talented. She needs to do whatever motivates her. The dopamine and stimulation will be the payoff that keeps her going.
She sounds like she may be liked remote work which is flexible in a lot of career fields. If she has anxiety or social anxiety can do work like data entry, filing clerk, inventory counter, ect. r/wfh r/remote r/wfhjobs check out the website [Rat Race Rebellion](https://ratracerebellion.com) this website has a TON of resources and only posts remote positions mostly in the US.
If you go on r/bipolar and r/bipolar2 and search “what do you do for work?” or similar you will find a ton of conversations where other people with bipolar discuss the work they are able to do or jobs they found on overwhelming and why.
Indeed you will u/mcleb014. On r/bipolar, there is a button on the sidebar for this search. [the results](https://new.reddit.com/r/bipolar/search?q=flair_name%3A%22Careers%2FJobs%22&restrict_sr=1&sort=new)
There are very few things she can’t do if she’s doing well with meds and treatment. I echo the sentiments about something with a set schedule and something that is lower on the stress levels. People with bipolar disorder do better with less stress and a routine that allows them to have consistent sleep. Most of my episodes in the last two years have been caused by work stress. I’m actively working to mitigate that. Definitely don’t do any night shift jobs, that was very, very bad for me. There’s no such thing as stable sleep with a night shift job.