You can live well with bipolar disorder! 
Bipolar disorder affects up to 3% of your workforce.
Most people with bipolar disorder have high levels of workforce participation1 In your own workforce the prevalence of bipolar disorder may be up to 3%. This is regardless of their socio-economic background, education or the type of work they perform.
How can I tell who has bipolar disorder?Just look among the most creative, the best problem-solvers, and the best formal and informal leaders. Bipolar disorder is thought to convey advantages in creativity and leadership2. A worker with bipolar disorder could be the one who's the life of the party in the tea room, or the one who organises all the office social events. They may also be your binge drinkers, as many people who have bipolar but are not diagnosed or treated tend to self-medicate with alcohol. On the other hand, they could be a reliable worker who, out of the blue, gets really worked up about something. Of course, you'll never pick all workers with bipolar disorder! Why? Because when effectively treated, people bipolar disorder suffer no symptoms!
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How should I manage bipolar at work?Your occupational health and safety plans should include Mental Health First Aid. Employees who are 'accelerating,' for example, taking on many new projects, or are becoming grandiose or irritable will benefit from having some boundaries imposed on their activities. Employees in the depressive phase may need encouragement to seek medical help. Beyondblue, an Australian group, has produced some early research and a limited workplace program on depression which may be of assistance. It is still very early days in the inclusion of bipolar disorder in occupational health. Bipolar Living Well courseNominate a co-worker to participate with the worker with bipolar disorder in our 6 week bipolar course. This course is designed to cover not only illness management but also strategies for living well in a holistic sense, including participation in the labour market. At only $49 per pair of participants, this is incredible value for staff development. Personal telephone support is offered to Australian and New Zealand companies. |
But what if they create havoc?If an employee has a sudden behaviour change and becomes disruptive, you need to simultaneously (a) deal with the behaviour, keep everyone safe and so on, and (b) refrain from making decisions on disciplinary action or termination until the cause of the behaviour is established. That is, was the out-of-character bad behaviour actually due to bipolar disorder? If so, it would be unlawful in most countries to terminate the employment. This author's perspective on how people can cope with bipolar and the work environment may give you some clues as to the best management practices. Read How to Find a Bipolar-Proof job.
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Workplace health and safetyNurture your leaders and creative thinkers! Buy a copy of Bipolar and the Art of Roller-coaster Riding today and engage these folk in creating a state of the art OHS environment!
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1 Access Economics, Bipolar Disorder: costs, 2003, prepared for SANE Australia. 2 See, for example, Goodwin & Jamison, Manic-Depressive Illness Oxford University Press, New York 1990 |
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