work anxiety caused insomnia

[dpcan]

Hi all,

I started a new job and it went well for the 1st year. At the year end performance review my boss asked me to take on some new responsibilities. This caused me develop anxieties about being overworked and having a bipolar stress failure. This eventually led to two bouts of insomnia in a matter of 2 weeks. I have never had insomnia like this before and have addressed it with my doctor.

My question is what do other people do to manage employer expectations at work and manage overtime?

My doctor has offered to write a note saying I can not accept new responsibilities to manage my stress levels. Does anyone have experience with that and what are the reactions?

Note I have not disclosed my illness to my employer.

[Gossip]

I would talk to the boss and say something like I have a chronic illness that can be made worse by stress, so I don't feel comfortable taking on extra responsibilities at this time. I'm worried I may get sick and that's no help to either of us.

[paul m]

Hello Dpcan and welcome. It's been a while since I last worked in a management position. The stress played havoc with my illness (bipolar). I do know some people who have done well although they have bipolar. I like Gossip's reply. Take Care. paul m

[AJ]

Welcome to the forum Dpcan. I like Gossip's response too. It gives enough information to make a request not to be given extra work.

[Tara]

Hi dpcan,
Congrats on a good performance review! My personal approach is usually transparent and direct communication. However I am a little more cautious now that I am living with Bipolar II. If you have a medical letter on file your employer is legally obligated to accommodate you. That’s the employment law in Nova Scotia. You may want to check the law in your province if you are not in NS. Based on that, I would recommend getting a letter in your HR file at work.
good luck!
Tara

can you tell me what a Bipolar stress failure is and where I can learn more about that term?

[Snuggly]

It's not for that reason, if your biological rhythms are still off. I mean, go to https://www.alveda.life/ or a similar organisation that deals with these symptoms or illnesses. I don't think they can help you in a clinic or prescribe antidepressants. Do you need it? If you have trouble falling asleep you can try taking melatonin, which is the hormone responsible for rebuilding the body's hormones. So you'll be fine. Try yoga or an adaptation course, it might help.

[AJ]

Hi Snuggly. Would you like to expand on your comments?

[Dexter]

I know this won’t help you but just FYI. I got my three supervisors together on my request to tell them I had bipolar ll and that I as well had trouble with new responsibilities and tasks. Just to be straight forward with them so they understood my challenges. Thas taking some stress off me on not having to deal with uncomfortable, unachievable situations. My boss said 5 min later in the review I’d like to see you take on more leadership tasks with new employees. It was like he wasn’t even in the conversation. More uncomfortable stress on my plate. Just FYI we may need to sit them down one on one and talk to our leadership. Like I said. FYI. I don’t know how you need to deal with your positional issues.