The Working Cure

A few months ago Julie started a new job, which for the first time meant going out of the house to work.  It was not the first employment she had had, but it was the first time she had had to leave the house, arrive at a certain time and work with other people on a daily basis. 

In this job, for the first time, her bipolar condition is not the first thing that her colleagues know about Julie.  In fact most of them do not know about it at all, and may never know about it.  She is just Julie.  The first thing they know about her is the job she is doing for them, in their team.  The second thing they generally get to know is that she does the job well.  She's honest, open and reliable.  Her initial casual employment status was quickly exchanged for a permanent contract.  She's popular in the team, making friends.

This job is the best medication for her illness that Julie has ever had.   In those few short months she has grown hugely in confidence.  The usual cycle of ups and downs, that used to swing wildly from boom to crash, has become a manageable gentle ocean swell.  She enjoys herself in her evenings and weekends, rather than enduring hours of frustrating loneliness.

I know why the chorus of professionals that have dominated her life to date - the mental health nurses, the social workers, the psychiatrists - have discouraged her from work in the past.  There's no doubt that there have been times in the past when it would have been hard to sustain.  But there is also no doubt in my mind that work now is very very good for her.  When times are hard - and there are still hard times - the last thing to go should be the job.