Depression/bipolar and work

[Russell]

Hi all, While I enter my second week of venlaflaxin,I am struggling with the day to day at work. I teach brickwork/functional skills to 14-19 years, many of who have behavioural/emotional issues. I work for a private company, with very little staff. My manager who has been very supportive is leaving next Friday and the management that are left are more concerned with meeting targets and cutting costs. Do I tell my colleagues, bosses about my illness? Do I go sick? Do I leave? Bearing in mind I have a secure job with a weekly wage. I'm so messed up at the moment I can't tell what thoughts are real and which ones are due to my illness or medication.

[SteveW]

Most therapists would offer a particular bit of advice to you. That is do not take any major potentially life changing decisions while you are actively unwell. Your judgement just that isn't that good. Think calmly about quitting your job, which you have considered, and you'll see that it is wildly premature for your mind to be considering this sort of territory after 7 days treatment.

Telling your managers and colleagues what is happening inside your head is very risky. I opted for being open about having depression and the only consequence was that I got more support. But this was amazing luck. Stigma and discrimination were strong then as they are now. The mostly likely consequences should have been highly negative.

I think I would stick to the original plan of giving Venlafaxine a one month trial. If you should become so unwell that you can't work at all then going on the sick might be a necessity. If the kids you teach were like mine then teaching them when you are below par could be impossible.

[Russell]

I've crashed big time! Don't know if it's a result of yesterday's meeting or just the inevitable downer,simply can't face the day to day.Gonna have today off and just be kind to myself. Feel totally wiped out,first time it's hit so hard I can't go to work. This thing sucks!

[SteveW]

Sorry to hear about the crash in mood. I doubt it is a reaction to your Healthy Minds appointment. From what you wrote that sounded positive on the whole. There is a strong element of randomness in the expression of the symptoms of all the psychiatric illnesses. They come and go in intensity without a discernible cause.

You have done pretty well. You have had a couple of weeks of normality despite some eccentric drug choices by your GP. I hope this is a bad day rather than the start of a bad spell.