Bipolar II-should I reveal my condition to employer for accomodations (ADA)?

[xylene]

I am a bipolar II sufferer and have been certified as having a disability.

If you are certified, get on disability.

 

[Ohiogal]

You really do not know anything about the disorder. There is no ease in the life of someone with bipolar disorder. It is a constant battle to stay stable and functional. I would really rather be in a wheelchair than dealing with thoughts from which I cannot escape. Disturbed and erratic sleep schedules are one of the main causes of both manic and depressive episodes. I had to be hospitalized before because of it. I guess I am a cry baby because I don't want to end up on the brink and suicidal again.

You have no clue what I know about bipolar disorder. Keep showing your ignorance, pittguy. You are also showing that you are a "cry baby". Take your meds and keep your appointments with your psychiatrist.

 

[pittguy578]

I am a cry baby because the employer misled me on scheduling before I took the offer? I would have never accepted the offer if I had been told the truth. I know what I need to control my condition. I am guessing you would be in favor of me just accepting it and having another episode.

I do know you don't really know the key things that need to be done to control it.

 

[Proserpina]

I am a cry baby because the employer misled me on scheduling before I took the offer? I would have never accepted the offer if I had been told the truth. I know what I need to control my condition. I am guessing you would be in favor of me just accepting it and having another episode.

I do know you don't really know the key things that need to be done to control it.

Pittguy - seriously, please do NOT assume that you have any clue what the contributors here have or have not experienced.

Please.

Do not do it. Because you will be the one coming off as a complete prune.

 

[TheGeekess]

I am a cry baby because the employer misled me on scheduling before I took the offer? I would have never accepted the offer if I had been told the truth. I know what I need to control my condition. I am guessing you would be in favor of me just accepting it and having another episode.

I do know you don't really know the key things that need to be done to control it.

Then quit the job and find another if you don't like the schedule you're on. It's not worth all this drama, no matter WHAT your psychiatric diagnosis is. And like you've been told: You don't have ½-a-clue about what anybody else here knows or has experienced with ANY psychiatric disorder.

 

[Ohiogal]

I am a cry baby because the employer misled me on scheduling before I took the offer? I would have never accepted the offer if I had been told the truth. I know what I need to control my condition. I am guessing you would be in favor of me just accepting it and having another episode.

I do know you don't really know the key things that need to be done to control it.

You can always quit your job. That way you don't have to deal with their scheduling.

 

[pittguy578]

I think it is pretty apparent from the answers that she doesn't know how this disorder is controlled or what it entails. I would love to be able to sleep normally and be able to fall back asleep. However, that is not the case. Getting haphazard sleep plunges greatly affects my mood and causes it to destabilize. That is the case with all bipolar people. She thinks I can just magically change something I have been trying to do on my own for years. I am a high functioning bipolar when my mood is stable. That is an everyday struggle. I wouldn't wish this disorder on my worst enemies. I never know what the next day will bring or how I will feel. If I could trade my left leg to feel normal I would do so. This is a legitimate concern

http://bipolar.about.com/od/sleepissues/Sleep_Issues.htm

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

It is pretty apparent you are going to continue in a state of denial and self justification, pushing to obtain the outcome you want, for a situation that has not even developed.

 

[Proserpina]

I think it is pretty apparent from the answers that she doesn't know how this disorder is controlled or what it entails. I would love to be able to sleep normally and be able to fall back asleep. However, that is not the case. Getting haphazard sleep plunges greatly affects my mood and causes it to destabilize. That is the case with all bipolar people. She thinks I can just magically change something I have been trying to do on my own for years. I am a high functioning bipolar when my mood is stable. That is an everyday struggle. I wouldn't wish this disorder on my worst enemies. I never know what the next day will bring or how I will feel. If I could trade my left leg to feel normal I would do so. This is a legitimate concern

http://bipolar.about.com/od/sleepissues/Sleep_Issues.htm

Nobody is saying YOU aren't bipolar or that YOUR particular problems aren't real.

What we're trying to get across to you is that you are, honestly, a prize prune if you think that you're the only person on these boards who either suffers from bipolar or has relatives who do.

And please don't make sweeping statements.

 

[Ohiogal]

I think it is pretty apparent from the answers that she doesn't know how this disorder is controlled or what it entails. I would love to be able to sleep normally and be able to fall back asleep. However, that is not the case. Getting haphazard sleep plunges greatly affects my mood and causes it to destabilize. That is the case with all bipolar people. She thinks I can just magically change something I have been trying to do on my own for years. I am a high functioning bipolar when my mood is stable. That is an everyday struggle. I wouldn't wish this disorder on my worst enemies. I never know what the next day will bring or how I will feel. If I could trade my left leg to feel normal I would do so. This is a legitimate concern

http://bipolar.about.com/od/sleepissues/Sleep_Issues.htm

Yeah. NOw you are totally an idiot and showing your ignorance. Again, go see your psychiatrist. Have them adjust your meds.

 

[commentator]

I suspect that if there is any sort of probationary period on this job, this person is gone from it quickly. It doesn't make points of any kind to start of by demanding accomodations that you don't need yet, for a problem you haven't had yet, accusing the company of "misleading" you, and demanding that they come across with all sorts of special concessions for a potential problem that has nothing to do with them and it not work related, that your not yet born child is keeping you up at night. And when it happens, go see an ADA attorney, and see if you have any grounds for a suit.

 

[pittguy578]

I am not sure how I am the idiot here. I clearly have documented how this situation will impact my condition. You are just nay saying without looking at the facts.

 

[cbg]

And you have been told what your recourse is. You either go to HR and request a reasonable accomodation for your disability (which may or may not result in your getting the shift you want) or you suck it up. The employer did not violate any laws by using an arbitrary method to determine who gets what shift. It's a shame that you were not told up front how it would happen, but even if they out and out, deliberately lied to you (as opposed to someone making a unknowing error - try proving which it was) that still does not give you legal recourse. It's the employer's opt who works what shift.

Please note that EVEN IF you self-identify as disabled and request an accomodation, they are not required under the law to change your shift unless there is an opening in the shift you want. They are not required to bump someone else to put you into their spot, or to create an opening for you that would not otherwise exist. They most certainly are not required to accomodate the sleep cycle of a baby that hasn't been born yet.

And before you tell me that I don't know anything about the disorder, one of my best friends is bi-polar and I have even shared a hotel room with her. It's not that we don't understand your situation; it's that you don't understand what an employer is and is not required to do under what circumstances.

 

[pittguy578]

They clearly misled me about the shift situation and they admitted their error. I am not making things up. I would not have accepted the offer if I had known this. This is also clearly work related. I know this is going to impact my performance when it happens. Should I wait until I start to crack up before I tell them? This is a large company. There are plenty of other shifts available in which I would be able to perform at a high level.

 

[cbg]

No one is accusing you of making things up. I'm suggesting that their misleading you may not have been a deliberate attempt to mislead, but simply an error on someone's part. You will have very little success if you attempt to prove that someone deliberately and maliciously gave you incorrect information. Errors happen.

It's up to you when you ask. Nothing is going to change unless you ask. It may not change if you do ask. But it's definitely not going to change if you don't. Your ONLY hope of any kind of legal protection is under the ADA. You ask, at the time of your choosing, or you suck it up. No other options out there.