Does a bipolar diagnosis disqualify me from truck driving?

For those unfamiliar with the brain disease called Bipolar disorder, here is some important information to consider:

Bipolar disorder has no favorites. It strikes men, women and young people. It is A MOOD DISORDER. Meaning... your personality can be altered based on your mood. Anger, withdrawal, super-happiness, extreme depression and other mood flavors accompany this disease. Women seem to be more understanding about this disease because all women worldwide deal with mood changes each and every month. Some... more than others. The mood changes have often been likened to a roller coaster ride. Extreme highs followed by deep lows.

So... lets nail down something specific regarding this disease (just like all other diseases). If UNTREATED, the bipolar person is on a constant ride up and down with sharp highs and deep lows (usually following directly after each other). They don't have self control and can even be dangerous because they have little self control. This person should not be behind the wheel of a commercial vehicle.

So what about the bipolar person who is BEING TREATED. Well, this depends. There are a lot of medications out there that are prescribed for bipolar disorder. Has the individual responded well to the medication they are on and has been stable for a long period of time so that you know this is the right medication for them? Or is their doctor still trying medications to see which one is better?

Another point: Medication is not the only type of treatment. What about D.B.T.? Dialectical Behavioral Therapy. This helps the person "retrain their brain" through mental exercises and tools that they can use. In my personal opinion, both medication and behavioral therapy are a must for the true bipolar patient.

So what are the moods like for the FULLY TREATED Bipolar? Well... if you can imagine this: Remember on TV or in the movies seeing a lie detector test and the little wavy line going back and forth very fast? This is the bipolar WHO IS NOT BEING TREATED. Now, know what a sound wave looks like on a graph? there are ups and downs but not extreme anymore. Rounded, further apart and much easier to deal with. This is the bipolar with IS UNDER TREATMENT.

The real question is: can a bipolar person who knows how to MINDFULLY deal with their disease and knows how important it is to actively control their disease through treatment, should be behind the wheel of a commercial vehicle? There are many opinions on this from many different types of people. Most being uninformed and basing their thoughts on the stigma's associated with this disease.

As a bipolar myself, I am not interested in individuals opinions because this is not what will give me or deny me a job. I am interested in the opinion of the industry itself. Are decision makers who can keep you or give you a job basing their decisions on fact? Or are they only looking at the stigma's associated with this disease? Are they looking at each person on a case by case basis taking the thoughts of the persons Psychiatrist into account? If decision makers are declining bipolar persons due to the "possible side effects" of the medication they are on, then most drivers out there are eventually doomed to lose their jobs.

Here are the side effects of Ibuprofen: http://www.drugs.com/sfx/ibuprofen-side-effects.html
Please note that dizziness, tiredness, weakness, vision and speech changes, chest pain, depression, mental or mood changes are just a few of the many POSSIBLE, DOCUMENTED side effects of this medicine. How many commercial truck drivers take this on a regular basis?

The bottom line with medicine is this: If you read the side effects of any medicine, it will scare you! These are all of the POSSIBLE SIDE EFFECTS. But which ones is the patient really experiencing if any?


This is what I want to know. Should I even begin the process of truck driver training through Vocational Rehab only to be "shut out" of this industry due to naive people?

Oh.... I have been stable for 3 years on the medication I take.

 

I wouldn't recommend trucking because bipolar people need a regular sleep pattern and low stress. The opposite of what trucking is.

 

Umm, what do these needs have to do with Bipolar, as opposed to the entire population ?? Speaking from PERSONAL experience, people with Bipolar RARELY ever enjoy regular sleep patterns and/or low stress

 

My psychiatrist told me having a regular sleep pattern is important to keeping stable. Also how well does your typical bipolar handle stress? And I enjoy both regular sleep and no stress when I am not trucking.

 

Youre a rare bipolar then. Your psychiatrist is right, it IS important. Its just not all that attainable. Big difference. I have been diagnosed since the age of 4. Started as "hyperactivity" then to ADHD and now Bipolar. You learn to cope.

 

Are you OTR or local Mike? But yeah I'm not saying it's impossible to be a trucker and bipolar just that it's more difficult and if possible to look for a different career.

 

Im OTR and i get what youre sayng. Not too many have managed to pull it together as well as I have. Its no longer a crutch for us, but not necessarily so with other people

 

I say let the doctor decide what's best for him, and all the armchair doctors who've been on the road way too long can shut it and put a lock on it.

 

Short answer ...NO...you stated many of the reasons yourself. I'm no Dr. , never known any bipolar person either, but I have been a driver for over 3 decades...most of (not all ) of the prior posters have so far been what I deem rookies (under 15 t0 20 years ex.) So they really don't get the whole picture yet..I'll get slammed for this later, but I'm an adult. This job is/was/ and will always be filled with very , very , stressful situations, some of which will be thrown at a driver all of a sudden, some will slowly build in a few hours time , some will continue to build over weeks....That in itself can cause anyone to go off the deep end. But to a person who is admittedly with problems , why would you want to throw your self into a place where you would be in control (or not ) of a piece of equipment that is over 60 feet long , bends in the middle and weighs 40 tons...I hope you see what I'm getting at....bipolar folks have enough on them as it is...why add the stress of trucking to the mix.....makes for a very , very , dangerous ####tail if you ask me.......