Before covid, I'd had 2 managers who knew something of what I was dealing with and gave me the space to deal with it and encouragement that my work was good enough often enough not to worry. With some 5+ other managers, I believe I successfully masked it and that it would have threatened my job had I failed.
In the remote world, it takes almost no work at all to manage around my work schedule. I don't even feel like I'm masking anything, just living. Weirdest part is I've now fallen into a far more social role.
Who would have thought remote work had such hidden benefits?
/...almost everyone
During the bursty periods, it affects both my creativity and the amount of work I output. I haven't found a way to trigger/force myself into this state yet. I've tried different sleeping patterns, food, sex, drugs & caffeine, different kinds of music etc, to no effect. Music has come the closest to getting me to that feeling/state.
Anyone else have more things to try?
Concerta messed me up so badly for about a week, then I stopped taking it. I want to try Vivance but it is not available in my country.
Periods of very high output, and then periods of slump. Not much of a long term stable in-between.
I wouldn't be surprised if that's very effective for the right kind of project.
Please no; we don't have to stigmatize normal waxing and waning of mental/physical energy.
There are a lot of "normal" factors involved in any Individual's productivity and pathology should be consulted only as the last resort.
These are not bipolar. The name "bipolar" is very misleading. One book I've read has called with multipolar disorder, which is far more accurate. There isn't just mania or depression. There is a whole world of possible dysfunctions that come with it: Anxiety, ADHD, insomnia, psychosis, and the list continues. There can be different moods, stages, and flavors of mania and depression in one person!
On top of this, these symptoms need to be severe enough to impair normal daily function to be diagnosed.