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I've kind of given up on worrying about being judged about being Bipolar. There is nothing I can do about it, and I think there are some benefits to being Bipol

by baus 11y ago

I've kind of given up on worrying about being judged about being Bipolar. There is nothing I can do about it, and I think there are some benefits to being Bipolar. I'm not saying I always enjoy it, but it is part of who I am. Being up front about it is part of the solution for me. It forces me to own my condition and focus on avoiding situations which are triggers for me -- to embrace my limitations. I'm not sure of the nature of your condition, but for me it isn't like it is a constant struggle. It comes and it goes. It has also become apparent that there are A LOT of people out there in very successful careers who have mental conditions. I don't have any data to support this, but I actually think it is becoming a more significant issue. My theory is it better to accept your condition and do what you need to do to take care of yourself than to ignore it and pretend it doesn't exist (which I think a lot of people including myself in the past try to do).

bpchaps 11y ago
Agreed about not worrying about being bipolar. It is what it is, and the only thing you can do is plan around it and develop heuristics that make the most sense, considering. That said, the problem isn't with the overall thinking patterns, the problem comes when the mood swings are at their worst. When I'm at my worst, there's effectively nothing I can do. My heuristic models are still observable and workable, but they fall apart from absurd rationalizations. I feel that this is the reason why bipolar has such a high suicide rate, particularly with type II over I. The career aspects are very interesting. My career has been very well so far. I'm 27 and I've managed to hold many respectable positions and have a few potential and very dissimilar positions in the running. Algorithmic trader, senior infrastructure engineer, data scientist and security engineer. I'm not entirely sure what aspect of my mental model allowed these things to happen, but I don't think these options would've been possible without bipolar and its comorbids. I think it's difficult to accept (not necessarily stop worrying) your own mental health condition depending on what stage you're at in your understanding. For example, if you just received a diagnosis, how do you accept it when you haven't had enough time to build up an understanding? It's something that takes time and it's something that needs to be emphasized that's often not.
- baus 11y ago
  > I don't think these options would've been possible without bipolar and its comorbids. This is the type of thinking I would like to see more of. Bipolar is a very complex condition in my opinion. Probably more complex than I wanted to understand. But I have the sense that I would not be the person I am with out Bipolar -- both in positive and negative aspects. The "absurd rationalizations." I totally get that. It is like the logical side needed to be effective in this profession comes back to haunt you. When those situations arise, I do think it is time to take a step back from work. I think we suffer from the demands to constantly produce. That is unrealistic, not just for those of us with Bipolar, but for the population in general. I think many people suffer from unrelenting nature of modern life, but the consequences manifest them differently in different people.

by baus 11y ago

bpchaps 11y ago

Agreed about not worrying about being bipolar. It is what it is, and the only thing you can do is plan around it and develop heuristics that make the most sense, considering. That said, the problem isn't with the overall thinking patterns, the problem comes when the mood swings are at their worst. When I'm at my worst, there's effectively nothing I can do. My heuristic models are still observable and workable, but they fall apart from absurd rationalizations. I feel that this is the reason why bipolar has such a high suicide rate, particularly with type II over I. The career aspects are very interesting. My career has been very well so far. I'm 27 and I've managed to hold many respectable positions and have a few potential and very dissimilar positions in the running. Algorithmic trader, senior infrastructure engineer, data scientist and security engineer. I'm not entirely sure what aspect of my mental model allowed these things to happen, but I don't think these options would've been possible without bipolar and its comorbids. I think it's difficult to accept (not necessarily stop worrying) your own mental health condition depending on what stage you're at in your understanding. For example, if you just received a diagnosis, how do you accept it when you haven't had enough time to build up an understanding? It's something that takes time and it's something that needs to be emphasized that's often not.

baus 11y ago
> I don't think these options would've been possible without bipolar and its comorbids. This is the type of thinking I would like to see more of. Bipolar is a very complex condition in my opinion. Probably more complex than I wanted to understand. But I have the sense that I would not be the person I am with out Bipolar -- both in positive and negative aspects. The "absurd rationalizations." I totally get that. It is like the logical side needed to be effective in this profession comes back to haunt you. When those situations arise, I do think it is time to take a step back from work. I think we suffer from the demands to constantly produce. That is unrealistic, not just for those of us with Bipolar, but for the population in general. I think many people suffer from unrelenting nature of modern life, but the consequences manifest them differently in different people.