BIL has Bi-Polar and has no job

My Brother in law suffers from sever depression. One week he could be on a high and the next week on a low. He has one of the worse forms of depression. At the minute he is recovering from an illness he had which had him laid up for 4 mths. He has no qualifacations and a very bad leaving cert. He has no real ambitions. He doesn't know what he likes. Basically he can't apply himself to anything and alot of it is related to his depression.
Is there any group he can join with to help him find long term work. Or is there any course you would recommend he do to help him achieve a qualification.

i would be grateful for any advise.

Can his GP not make recommendations in this regard?

I wouldn't have thought that GPs would be much use in this respect? Maybe they would?

There is a bit about disability and work on the National Disability Authority website

Brendan

Sorry, can't really offer any advise, but you may find some info on the Aware website which may be of use.

He needs to get into one of the groups run by the psychiatric hospitals. His GP should refer him to a psychiatrist. Bi-Polar is one of the easiest forms of mental illness to control. Once this is done he can start looking at career options.

Brendan said:

I wouldn't have thought that GPs would be much use in this respect?

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Sorry - I really meant recommendations of therapists or groups that might be able to advise further on the career issue.

thanks for getting back to me. i will have a look at the different websites suggested and meybe i'll be able to put a few other altenatives on the table as a result. Again Thanks for replies.

If hes being treated correctly by his GP, then they are the best person to ask about support groups etc! There are day classes run specifically for people with mental health issues, basically helping them learn new skills that could be applied to the work force! It sounds like it will be a slow process to build his skill base as trying to motivate a person with depression can be the most difficult thing! Try and contact any of the people involved in the various pyschiatric hospitals e.g

He could try contacting the Irish Association of Supported Employment () - they have organisations set up through out the country to help people with any disability -mental health, physical etc.. get paid employment. It is a free service and you are assigned your own job coach to help assess suitable jobs and work with other supports you may have to match you to the right job. it works for some people. Good luck.

Your poor BIL and his wife. A really horrible illness. You are right to enquire and to try and deal with this for him as ignored has the potential to lead to a major calamity. You have not stated what part of the country you are in, but Gareth O'Callaghan (the ex RTE DJ) , who used to be a mannic depressant holds talks and courses for those in similar situations. If you are unable to find the details contact Galway Bay FM who might be able to point you in the right direction. The point I have made is well known and in the Public Domain. Fair play to you for trying to help the poor devil.

I presume your BILs diagnosis was made and is managed by a psychiatrist, not a GP on their own. Have you discussed the problem with any social worker/ occupational therapist working with the consultant?
The country is divided up into sectors, each sector has a named consultant attached to it, if you are a public patient. Some sectors have rehab psychiatrists, whose interest is maximising the potential of the patient. This speciality is partly rolled out across the country. Is there any rehabilitation psychiatry service in the sector that the consultant could refer him to?

Please stick to the employment issues raised and note the following posting guideline:

Some useful suggestions on this BBC Ouch posting.

Might be useful to know that Civil Service run recruitment competitions specifically aimed at persons with a disability.

I don't know if there is one at the moment, but they are run through the public appointments service in middle abbey street

My mum has bi-polar with aspects of SAD to I totally understand where you are coming from. We (the family) suffered for years because we ddin't know what exactly was wrong. Since she was diagnosed (believe me it was like moving a mountain to get professionals to listen to us) she has been put on medication and she is totally different, the medication work brilliantly and she sees a psychiatrist & has bloods tested every 6mths. I know she would benefit from joining a support grop such as aware.ie organise but she wouldn't hear of it. Your brother-in-law needs to be stabilised, this can take time with different meds and meds must be taken at the same time every day, this can often involve someone actually seeing them take the meds as they can often lie about taking meds. Your ultimate aim is to help your brother-in-law to self-manage. This illness requires support from the whole family, regular contact with the patient and checking mood swings with other family members is really important too. I with you the very best.

Have a close relative with Bi-Polar, he managed to qualify very highly (is quite academic) but found work tough. Now took a less pressurised aspect of his career and is currently very happy (early days in new job). So as regards employment prospects for your brother in law, it shouldnt be beyond the bounds that he could do a regular job as long as it doesnt entail too much stress.

My relative wrote a book about his experiences called The Mountains of the Mind that is available on www.lulu.com (its only something like €5 to download - maybe €15 to get a hard copy - so basically its a not-for-profit book). Its reviewed in the current edition of the Aware magazine.

I know that isolation is one of the big things with depression so to hear another's similar story is good. The good news is that bi-polar is treatable (however imperfectly) but it seems theres a fair bit of trial and error in terms of dosages. For what its worth (and hopefully staying within the boundaries of not giving medical advice) his own view is that counselling is also helpful once you're stablised. To treat it as a purely chemical matter misses out on the emotional aspects of it which, whether originally contributory or not, are a definite "side-effect" of suffering.

If you follow the debate (which thankfully gets aired quite a bit more these days) theres a spectrum that ranges from drugs only solutions to talk only - it annoys me that people are adopting such dogmatic stances since they appear to be just protecting their own patch and not being open to the obvious possibility that a bit of both suits most people.

Anyway, best of luck to your Brother-in-Law, hope he finds a niche.

Hi,
My partner and BIL both have been diagnosed with BPD but because they actually are very different, it has effected them job-wise in different ways. My husband is working part-time s/e and I mean part-time! might start at 12.30 and might do 2-3 hours, maybe 4 days a week (he has someone helping him also with work, which keeps him focused). On the other hand my BIL does not have a partner, lives with eldery parents and does not work - have to retire at 45 from his previous employment and the difference in the well being is amazing. So, for motivation etc and personal well being, to have something/anything to do a couple of days a week is most important for any person. I would suggest, as a first step to suggest to your BIL to ask his Doctor to put him in touch with a local branch of AWARE or a similar group and things may develop from there.

Also register with FAS, there may be suitable short-term course, to start with (maybe even a day course) as sometimes for a person with BPD to focus for a long periods of time, so there will be no pressure attached.