Try not to snap

[vern]

I am managing to hold down a good job despite permanent back pain due to damaged nerves and having now been diagnosed with Type 2 Bi-Polar. sometimes at work I am finding myself snapping at my new manager, he has been OK up to now with the time off I occasionally have to take, but there must be a way of not snapping at him. I have just had a serious down when I just walked out to take a walk but felt like walking off the pier into the Sea for no reason. Is there a strategy to not snap?

[Sweetpea]

I can sympathise with you with the back pain.  I had major back surgery just over a year ago.  Pain alone can be debilitating, let alone suffering with mental health problems too.

Is your boss aware of you health problems? Its hard not to snap, but maybe try been aware of your mood, if you feel stressed try concentrating on your breathing to calm yourself.

X x

[vern]

I have had back pain now for 3 years and I am on 20 painkillers a day, my boss knows about my health problems but all he can say is "do you want to go part time?" If I have to spend another 17months sat at home then !!!!!!!  So I have found the new role at work difficult but don't want to admit defeat. Thanks for your advice, when I had the major black dog last week I just said I was going for a walk and went outside, rather than snap.

[Pip]

I suffer with back pain due to arthritis, curvature of the spine and a slipped disc so can sympathise as well. 

Having a strategy not to snap is different for everybody.  For me for many years was working in jobs I enjoyed, holidays to places I really wanted to explore and these days I have other ways to help me.  When I had a major meltdown in 2005 I had already started keeping a journal and writing poetry so the next step was writing a book about my experiences.  I had suffered with severe depression siince I was 19 although I have suffered with depression before then but I was officially diagnosed in 2005.  For me writing has helped so much as there is a reason for being severely depressed and I had kept the anger that was related to it locked up insife so writing was also a release for that.  I volunteer a couple of times a week, take my dog out a couple of times a week, that sort of thing.  I don't have a (paid) job due to health reasons which includes arthritis in my hands so can go days of being in pain so volunteering helps in the respect that I get out and do something that I can do at my own pace.

[vern]

maybe a diary would help i will try i think, thanks