I called my editor to ask if I could turn my blog in 12 hours late. It would be in before she got to her desk. She told me yes, but that this couldn’t be done every week. I felt so invigorated not to have a deadline; my blog was submitted 48 hours early. Let me add, I’m bi-polar.
My boss knows this and works with me. I don’t ask to turn blogs a little late often. As a matter of fact, I have always turned my writing in on time even when I have asked to be given extra time. But why I need the reassurance of having an extra half day with no pressure, I don’t know.
The thing with being bi-polar is that you have two big mental states that affect you; one’s hypo-depression, one’s hypo-mania. In the depressed state I don’t want to do a thing that has structure. In the manic state, I’m a go-getter and will volunteer for things that often have to be cashed by me when I am in a normal or; I hope never, depressed state.
The thing too is that I may not even realize that I’m in a depressed state because depression affects everyone differently; that’s the kicker. And depression will often follow a mania episode. These states of mind can affect your job or your employer’s perception of how you will do a job also.
When a person is manic who is bi-polar, he or she will often spend too much money. Want this person to have an expense account if he or she is manic? On the other extreme, can you depend on a person who is down when you need them up?
The answer is yes if that person knows that he or she has a condition and gets treatment. The treatment is medication to make up for chemicals that are often lacking in the brain to control mood swings plus therapy with a professional counselor.
And you won’t be violating religious ethics if you do this. Controlling bi-polar mood swings which is caused by missing chemicals in your body is akin to controlling diabetes because of missing chemicals. It’s a medical condition.
And a natural jerk or a nice person doesn’t stop being a jerk or nice person from the pills; in other words, you will be the real you, not an altered you.
And as I wrote before in another blog, your therapist is not God. You also will not be divulging any inner secrets unless you should want too. My therapist and I discussed my wife’s writing style for some reason the other day. (She blogs too). I asked why therapy works since half the time I’m discussing the fall of Rome (I like history). And he told me no one really knows.
Of course, the biggest problem with being bi-polar is many people think it’s a fake problem. I have a twin who became bi-polar 10 years before me, and I was in the class that thought the stuff was half made up.
One day at the age of 42, I woke up and the whole top of my head was numb (with a list of other symptoms too long to explain in a short blog). My scalp stayed numb for a month. My neck muscles were so tight I had cut off circulation to my scalp. 15 minutes after I decided to seek therapy though, my scalp was fine.
Why? The most powerful treatment of being bi-polar is hope.
The most powerful help too is a boss who understands. But it’s a two way street. I don’t go for the, “Boo Hoo Hoo, I’m bi-polar and can’t tie my shoe.”
So if you have a boss who is kind enough to work with you, you have to contribute back. Get help, take your pills and try to be the best you can be.
To close, let me say, “Thanks boss.”
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