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I have bipolar disorder and I definitely identify with his "the flake" story. I wouldn't just not show up like the guy in the story but I do have depressive cy

I have bipolar disorder and I definitely identify with his "the flake" story. I wouldn't just not show up like the guy in the story but I do have depressive cycles where I'm not sure I'm doing any good by showing up; I come in anyway. After a while the cycle swings the other way and I get heroic coding done at a (excuse the pun) manic pace. I like to think it comes out more productive on balance. For instance most recently I spent two months studying legacy code but didn't have the right frame of mind to make changes to it. Close to the deadline I had an upswing in mood and completed a total rewrite of the software in three days during which everything I touched turned to gold. Two key points: one, this was (embedded system) code a senior engineer struggled on for 2 years. So even averaging the month during which I did nothing with the week I did everything, I was still more productive by a huge margin. The second key point is I used both halves of my cycle to advantage. I knew I couldn't handle the rewrite while depressed, but what I COULD do was use that fugue state to plod through his old code like a zombie. Even though I didn't feel like I was making progress (and my boss was beginning to worry!) what I was doing was priming my brain with knowledge of what the legacy code did. That way, when the upswing did come, I didn't waste a single second of it.

alex_c 16y ago
Obliquely appropriate username? :) Just curious, is your boss aware of your cycles, and does he/she plan for them? If not, what effect do you think trying to explain would have?
- j_baker 16y ago
  I don't know about bipolar disorder or the grandparent's boss specifically, but I've learned never to discuss mental disorders with bosses or coworkers. There simply is no upside and every imaginable downside. Best case: you get labeled as someone who uses a mental disorder as an excuse for not doing your job. Worst case: you become "that crazy person" that nobody wants to associate with.
  - DuncanIdaho 16y ago
    I'm currently supervising an 37year old rookie. He had some absence issues, so I confronted him. Tuns out he is an ex-addict (that's why he's rookie at 37). I don't have a problem with people trying to straighten themselves out. He doesn't get any preferential treatment from me - because it won't do him any good. As long as he does the expected work of expected quality he is fine with me. Knowing that he is an ex addict is valuable to me so I can put our relationship in right context.
    - pbhjpbhj 16y ago
      >He doesn't get any preferential treatment from me [...] [knowing about his past] is valuable to me so I can put our relationship in right context. I don't understand how knowing about his past should matter if you're not going to behave differently towards him? That's like asking someone’s sex on an application form - if you're not going to discriminate why do you need to know.
      - sophacles 16y ago
        He is differentiating that the past was a problem rather than the present. See, if the guy was a 37yo rookie because of current, actively on-going problems, then the past would still not matter, but there would be good reason to be wary. So finding out that the thing is in the past is an exercise in finding out enough to dismiss qualms. You are being disingenuous btw -- this is not like the gender question at all.
        pbhjpbhj 16y ago
        >You are being disingenuous btw -- this is not like the gender question at all. I beg to differ. Could you provide some reasoning? >but there would be good reason to be wary If you're not discriminating then it doesn't matter if they're a current drug addict, a past drug addict, partner of a drug addict - you judge them solely on their performance at work. I say discriminate.
        16y ago
jrockway 16y ago
I do have depressive cycles where I'm not sure I'm doing any good by showing up; I come in anyway. After a while the cycle swings the other way and I get heroic coding done I think all creative people are like this, bipolar or not. The problem with the programming world is that a lot of non-creative types want to be programmers, and so they set soem "standard that assumes programmers are people that show up at 9am, click shit in Eclipse for 8 hours, and then go home. Unfortunately, in the history of the human race, clicking shit in Eclipse for 8 hours has never produced a working computer program. Programming is creative work; treat it like a 9-5 job and the result is shitty software. The sad part is that there is a huge market for shitty software. I bet the car makers and bridge builders wish they had it this good.

alex_c 16y ago

Obliquely appropriate username? :) Just curious, is your boss aware of your cycles, and does he/she plan for them? If not, what effect do you think trying to explain would have?

j_baker 16y ago
I don't know about bipolar disorder or the grandparent's boss specifically, but I've learned never to discuss mental disorders with bosses or coworkers. There simply is no upside and every imaginable downside. Best case: you get labeled as someone who uses a mental disorder as an excuse for not doing your job. Worst case: you become "that crazy person" that nobody wants to associate with.
- DuncanIdaho 16y ago
  I'm currently supervising an 37year old rookie. He had some absence issues, so I confronted him. Tuns out he is an ex-addict (that's why he's rookie at 37). I don't have a problem with people trying to straighten themselves out. He doesn't get any preferential treatment from me - because it won't do him any good. As long as he does the expected work of expected quality he is fine with me. Knowing that he is an ex addict is valuable to me so I can put our relationship in right context.
  - pbhjpbhj 16y ago
    >He doesn't get any preferential treatment from me [...] [knowing about his past] is valuable to me so I can put our relationship in right context. I don't understand how knowing about his past should matter if you're not going to behave differently towards him? That's like asking someone’s sex on an application form - if you're not going to discriminate why do you need to know.
    - sophacles 16y ago
      He is differentiating that the past was a problem rather than the present. See, if the guy was a 37yo rookie because of current, actively on-going problems, then the past would still not matter, but there would be good reason to be wary. So finding out that the thing is in the past is an exercise in finding out enough to dismiss qualms. You are being disingenuous btw -- this is not like the gender question at all.
      - pbhjpbhj 16y ago
        >You are being disingenuous btw -- this is not like the gender question at all. I beg to differ. Could you provide some reasoning? >but there would be good reason to be wary If you're not discriminating then it doesn't matter if they're a current drug addict, a past drug addict, partner of a drug addict - you judge them solely on their performance at work. I say discriminate.
        16y ago

jrockway 16y ago

I do have depressive cycles where I'm not sure I'm doing any good by showing up; I come in anyway. After a while the cycle swings the other way and I get heroic coding done I think all creative people are like this, bipolar or not. The problem with the programming world is that a lot of non-creative types want to be programmers, and so they set soem "standard that assumes programmers are people that show up at 9am, click shit in Eclipse for 8 hours, and then go home. Unfortunately, in the history of the human race, clicking shit in Eclipse for 8 hours has never produced a working computer program. Programming is creative work; treat it like a 9-5 job and the result is shitty software. The sad part is that there is a huge market for shitty software. I bet the car makers and bridge builders wish they had it this good.