Should I tell my boss that I have bipolar disorder?

Question: I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder a few years ago. I experience mood swings from being very happy, to being overly irritable and angry.

The highs may last for several days to a month or more, but the lows often last longer and can be deep. I do my work well and relate well with my colleagues so long as I am on medication. Should I tell my boss about the condition or remain silent? I fear he might sack me.

Some years ago, the Royal College of Psychiatrists ran a programme called “Defeat Depression”. This was a successful effort by the college aimed at informing the public about mental health issues.

One of the many facts made during the campaign is that one in five people in the world will at one point or another suffer from clinically significant depression.

Put in another way, in a family of two parents and three children, one of them will suffer from depression in his/her lifetime. In a class of 25 children, five will at one point in their lives go through depression.

To put your question in perspective, if your employer has 300 employees, 60 suffer from depression in their lifetime.

In a church congregation of 1,000 faithfuls, 200 will suffer from depression at some point.

When these simple facts are placed before you, it becomes obvious that any employer who sacks you because of mental illness is fooling himself because there is one chance in five that he will replace you with another person with depression now or in future.

Significantly, in a workforce of 300, he will have to contend with nearly 60 people with potential mental health needs.

Another fact that was made repeatedly in the campaign is that depression is easily and effectively treated, particularly if it is caught early as some of the more serious complications can be avoided.

In your case, you tell us of being irritable and getting angry easily. Rapid swings of moods can be damaging to relationships. In clinical practice we come across many instances where couples come close to blows or separation because one of them is depressed.

LOW SEX DRIVE

The low moods, withdrawal, irritability, sense of worthlessness and poor sleep patterns conspire with a low sex drive to make any marriage a complete nightmare for the other spouse.

We come across men and women who stray from their marriages, drink too much and sometimes increase or lose too much weight because either they or their spouses are depressed.

Depression has many faces and hence can present with many different complications.

Most people dislike taking medication, whether it is for depression, diabetes, hypertension or even for malaria.
In your case, as long as you are able to follow your treatment plan, you remain well and are able to go on with a normal life. This is a lesson many people, and in particular employers, fail to recognise. Under treatment, many people are able to lead normal lives.

In addition to medication, there are psychological strategies that have been found to be effective particularly for moderate and mild depressive states.

It might be of some interest to know that at least seven American presidents, including Abraham Lincoln, were diagnosed with depression.

In a recent book titled Downing Street Blues Jonathan Davidson lists many British prime ministers who suffered from depression, including Sir Winston Churchill.

So, if your job is more demanding than that of Barack Obama or David Cameron, you might have to tell your boss so that he gives you a less demanding role. If it is interfering with your job performance in any way, then the sooner you tell him the better.

Just in case you are wondering why I have not mentioned bipolar disorder specifically, let me say that most of what I have said about depression applies to bipolar disorder, which is a clinical entity in which a person has both sides of the coin — at one time deeply depressed, at another manic, active, restless, irritable and grandiose, and full of self importance.

This phase is also treatable.

This article was first published in Business Daily.