Bipolar Disorder Support Group
Bipolar disorder is not just a single disorder, but a category of mood disorders marked by periods of abnormally high energy and euphoria, often accompanied by bouts of clinical depression. This is the place to talk about your experience with bipolar disorder, learn from others' experiences, and find support.
So early last week a lady at one of our facilites left work monday morning because of increasing paranoia.... she is under a doctor's care and I sent her the paper work necessary to file a disability claim. When my boss first told me she referred to her as "another nut case" (we had a disability claim 2 years ago for anxiety).... Today I need to call her and see if she got the paperwork and if she needs any help with it.... they are complicated under the best of circumstances... So I am hunting for a phone number and the first person I ask says the ladies name while making the coo coo motion.. you know, the finger circling the ear and says to ask Jean... Jean say's "You''re going to call the crazy lady?". Seriously does no one in this office have any fucking compassion. I just spent 4 days in the hospital for being suicidal and it's a damn good thing all I said to anyone at work is I needed personal days. Here I was thinking I should tell my boss about the Bipolar.... I've been here 4 years now and am having difficulties that may soon result in my needing to file a disability claim if we can't get the cycling slowed down. I am tired of feeling like I have to hide it but it is so obvious how the people here would react. Sucks cause under other circumstances I liek these people.... How come they have to be such shitheads.... Seriously. not one person treated her with any compassion whatsoever and she has been with us for 7 years.... the lady from 2 years ago was fired the day she used up her FMLA (but they had it planned much earlier) and she had been with us for 20 years! I don't want to be the next "nutcase, coocoo, crazy lady". Fuck em....
I think we become much more sensitive to those speaking negatively about "mental illness" because we suffer with it. It really is not fair how we treat each other and the world has become a very cold place, especially in the work place. I would not doubt that half of the people making those remarks are suffering with some form of mood distress themselves and they attempt to make themselves feel good by berating others. It is sad.....I am glad that this woman had at least one compassionate person (you) to give her support even if just in your thoughts....xo
This environment sounds very dysfunctional. The people are not very realistic at all. More of the population has mental illness than is known. And, it is my opinion that mental illnesses will rise as society gets more restrictive and deals with more upheavels and etcetera. And, even if the world weren't in turmoil, every "normal" person has some sort of issue. Believe me.
From working where I do the past three years, I believe that treating the mentally ill with disrespect is a CHOICE. I believe that small minded, stereotype, eugenic minded people are far, far more dangerous than most people with mental illnesses. However, thankfully these people are just crabs in a barrel and are using these terms of "crazy" and "cookoo" to make themselves feel better and they are so insecure that one might feel sorry for them.
Lastly, let me leave you with this. Once on a show called "Babylon 5" there was an episode where the military had found some relics of an ancient civilization. Anyway, to get past irrelevant points, the relics involved weaponry used in the ethnic cleansing of a planet called "Icara." Basically, the inhabitants of that planet (in the storyline) had killed one another off because only "pure" Icarians were to be pure. The point is that everyone was killed off because NO ONE is pure. NO ONE on the planet is perfect. No one on the planet is the sum of their genetics.
I feel very sorry for these coworkers. If you need to get legal do. If you need to go on disability, there is no shame in it. I have about 5 friends on disability and some of them work 20 hours a week. Most of them are happy and if they dont' work, they volunteer, so life doesn't necessarily end when you are on disability. But, if you do hang in there, you will find yourself getting stronger and stronger. And, as years go by you might just find that those who say these rude things now, will find themselves with a bit of karmic justice-I've seen it over and over again. Those who boast today will pay tommorrow-merely through their arrogance.
Mad Love,
EKATEPNHA