Dont want to be Bipolar - Career issues with diagnosis

LegacyUser

Over the past few years I have been noticing possible symptoms of Manic Depression which are steadily becoming worse.
My quality of life seems to be going downhill and since I am recently married I want to get better.
However... due to the stigma of mental illness I am concerned that a Bipolar diagnosis would be the end of my career, as I will be moving country shortly and while my current job would not have an issue with it (I am sure its probably already suspected) any future jobs would be put in peril and since in my field there is generally a medical I would need to disclose it.
I have read several threads on it here, but none of them mention stigma in relation to work.

I am desperate at this point but terrified it would cause issues for the career I love.

Buddha Star

Avoiding the truth of a problem or situation inevitably lead to a greater mess down the line. Bipolar is a serious condition but with good management can be quite workable. Four main areas of management Lifelsyle, Stress, Drug Therapy, Psychotherapy/Counselling.
What you work at creates a lot of the stress in one's life. Finding the right kind of employment that is flexible to your condition is paramount. Bipolar people are deeply creative - this can be artistic/scientific/ management/computing/ lots of areas. Being able to utilise your creative ups and harness them without going off the rails is an art but can be done. Your work would need flexibility toward your down cycle too so that you can be easy. So in short you need stimulus in work so you don't die of boredom that utilises your creativity but not so much that you get overwhelmed by stress- to many ideas, work half done,, commttments unmet.
Lifestyle- Grounding is the key word here. Garden get your hands into the soil, shovel horse ****, anything to hold you into the earth- see if you are embodied, notice if you have anyconnection to your physicality-bring your mind back into the present - into your body.
Meditate- learn to slow down- to obseve your mind and emotions- they are ephemeral- impermanernt- good and bad feelingsdont last forever, it's how we build on them and feed them deepens thei eperience of them. Keep a regular lifestyle with adequate sleep and fitness as a central theme. Buddhist meditation has a lot to offer here but be careful that the teachers are reputable Dalai Lama's books on emotions are helpful.
Keep your emotional life simple- remember why you are in it - to bring about your partners best happiness and freedom from suffering. ( So not feeding him a pile of drink etc.). In bipolar the tendency is to create drama and experience the ultimate high - particualrly in emotionl life. This is not a reality - love is based on kindness.
Genetleness is the key to your downs - take care of yourself- aerobic exercise, cooking, gardening, caring for creatures- breaking the isolation- a creative group writing , drama, singing .but be gentle with your self it will pass.
Psychotherapy/ Counselling agian with the right person can really help to hone one's ability to observe the cycles and bring the correct lifestyle and medical measures into play dpeending on which part of your cycle you are in.
Drugs and medicine are very effective at grounding you into the body if things are getting out of hand. Some Psychiatrists are au fait with the notion of minimul medication which wont flatten your mood too much. essentially there are two caps in this country ones who go by th pharmacology and those who see how medicine needs can change depending on the lifestyle factors and insight of the individual ivolved. Tegretol an old fashopned but vey useful drug could be explored. Like a diabetic if they eat loads of sugar they need lost so insulin - if they are careful they need less.
Sleep is the real key to how you are - if you are sleeping very few hours you are acutely manic and need some intervention.
Once you get to observe this in yourself you can train yourself to observe the more refined aspects of whats going on for you.
YES THERE IS ENORMOUS MENTAL HEALTH OPPRESSION but you do need to take care of yourself- death an result from this condition.
One option is to go private- pay the money quiz a number of psychiatrists and see who can work with. Interview them - see what they can offer you- there's lots of opinn out there but your management of your health is in your own hands- beware of those who want to save or fix you. That is your respobsibility with their help.

nesf

There is a strong stigma out there, it varies from field to field. You have to declare it in a medical to be honest (otherwise you get screwed over if you have an episode when in a job). It's illegal to officially discriminate against people with mental illness but unofficially it can and does happen. Being open about it from day one will save you a lot of grief with companies (i.e. one's that hire you will tend to be more understanding about the illness).