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Would you have a teacher with bi polar teach your child?
starry_rune
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Look at the pictures in this article / blog
http://www.buzzfeed.com/robynwilder/mental-health-at-work
If employers don't support people with mental health issues, how are we to get people of benefits? If schools don't support mental health, do parliament / politics?
Perhaps the type of people we want in schools / running the country are real down to earth understanding people who have lived life, been to the bottom and and back?
thoughts?
http://www.buzzfeed.com/robynwilder/mental-health-at-work
If employers don't support people with mental health issues, how are we to get people of benefits? If schools don't support mental health, do parliament / politics?
Perhaps the type of people we want in schools / running the country are real down to earth understanding people who have lived life, been to the bottom and and back?
thoughts?
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Schools certainly do in my experience.
A picture of a post-it on Buzzfeed is no indicator of anything.
Teaching can be stressful, and stress is a trigger for people with bipolar. It's not the ideal profession for someone with that disorder.
I wouldn't have a problem with it per se. My best friend is bipolar. She does go through periods where she has to take time off work though and that might cause difficulties.
but it depends on severity and history and would be a decision for a particular school head and governors.
if a bipolar mood swing starts then there would be time to adjust medication if neccessary. all depends on the person. individual cases are different and psychiatric diagnosis is not exactly "an exact science" ......
Pretty sure manic depression isn't quite the same thing as feeling a bit reluctant to get up for work on a Monday moring.
As a sufferer of bipolar disorder, that is one of the best bipolar jokes I've seen.
Why not?
It wouldn't bother me as long as the teacher was doing a good job of teaching. Everyone gets ill, including mental illness (I know I have anxiety/depression) and that needs to be recognised. The more open people can be, the better help they can get IMHO. Sweeping it under the carpet and ignoring it doesn't help anyone.
Not in the schools I've worked in. If a teacher is starting to crumble one head I know just piles on more and more until they drop and have a full breakdown, then tells that member of staff that they aren't fit for purpose. "If you have any personal or health issues I don't care and don't want to know. Just get your job done." This is a quote from a staff meeting a couple of years ago. So very supportive.
I agree totally. However, if you could point me to the bit on the post-it note that mentions manic depression I'd be much obliged because to me it reads like someone doesn't fancy going to work that day.
This is certainly not my experience of working in schools, although I'm sure it depends very much on the senior management of a particular school.
To answer the OP, yes I think a bipolar sufferer could take a job as a teacher as long as they are able to cope/getting help with their illness, and as long as they are actually good at the job.
Sorry, for some reason I thought all those people had bipolar. However, the article is about people suffering mental illness, so it's safe to assume the person in question was suffering mental illness - probably depression - and therefore not just looking for an excuse to skive off work.
Although all those photos were clearly taken in the same place, so I wonder if they are quotes from actual sufferers or illustrations made for the article.
Last time she was ill, she applied for early retirement on health grounds, and was turned down. She's due to retire next year now, and is just hoping she can keep it together for another year.
I wasn't - just young (21) and totally inexperienced and unprepared. Out uni tutor was trained to teach primary school children - she had no idea how to relate to teenagers, meaning that everything she did was geared towards the younger years; and she passed this inexperience on to us.
Add to this a school with no clear behavioural strategy and an uncaring SMT and any teacher would feel demoralised. My collegues did - but some days I felt as though I was going to pieces with stress and anxiety. I'm pretty sure that had I not chosen to leave the profession when I did, I would have had a break-down and gone on the long-term sick.
It seemed almost a 'badge of honour' to be struggling, to be permanently tired and over-worked. I imagine all teachers must feel over-burdened at some point in their career, and because there's a stigma attached to mental health, I imagine many problems go ignored and go on to become depression/anxiety. More needs to be done to teach people in demanding professions coping strategies, and to encourage a good work/life balance.