I’m in a management position, and it’s our busiest time of year. Yesterday, my manager completely slashed me to pieces over my quality of work and that he was through being “nice” and that I’d be receiving a write up. This sent me into a pool of tears and uncontrollable sobbing. Now, I’m aware my manager is an asshole, and I didn’t include all of the critical things he said because it would just send me back into the fetal position.

It took me almost 30 minutes to calm down, and I had to dip into my emergency Klonopin stash in my purse. Most people can shake it off and prove their manager wrong, but for the rest of the night I was shaky, quiet, and looked like a kicked puppy. I find myself making excuses to leave work early because mentally and emotionally I can’t handle it. So many people have told me to quit, but in the last 2-3 years I’ve had at least 5 different jobs.

I was thinking about stepping down from management, especially since I’ve started school now so thats extra stress. I’m just tired of being micromanaged. My manager, our regional manager, and the VP of Operations all watch the cameras to make sure I’m doing my job, and it’s nerve wracking to get a call asking why someone isn’t doing this or that. I don’t get paid enough to endure all of this stress, and it’s caused my IBS to flare up. I’m also rapid cycling as a result, and those old feelings of anger and rage come up. It’s terrifying. Has anyone else had a hard time keeping work with bipolar disorder? How do you handle work stress?