Take inventory of your passions, limits, abilities, talents, and morals – self-awareness is important! And then before considering any job, ask yourself the following:

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• Is it structured or does it have a flexible schedule?

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• Is it remote or onsite? If onsite, how many people do you have to work around?

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• What is your support plan when emotions are running high at work?

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• If onsite, does it have a supportive work environment where you can easily concentrate?

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• What are the possible stress factors on a scale of 1-10?

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• Do you have a plan for monitoring your all-or-nothing thinking and for reminding yourself that a single or few bad days, don’t mean you are a failure?

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Intensity of BPD symptoms can vary in different workplaces and per individual, BUT it is possible to have a successful career when organizations make a few simple adjustments to ensure active symptom control or real-time mental health outlets. So, consider the following before ruling the individual out or terminating them:

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• What limitation is the employee experiencing?​

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• How do these limitations affect the employee and the employee’s job performance?

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• What specific job tasks are problematic as a result of these limitations?

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• What accommodations are available to reduce or eliminate these problems? Are all possible resources being used to determine possible accommodations?

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• Once accommodations are in place, would it be useful to meet with the employee to evaluate the effectiveness of the accommodations and to determine whether additional accommodations are needed?

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• Do supervisory personnel and employees need training?

 

Key Accommodations:

For individuals with mental health conditions, having accommodations to help manage panic attacks can be helpful. 

• Flexible Schedule

• Modified Break Schedule

• Rest Area/Private Space

• Support Animal

• Support Person

• Identify and Reduce Triggers

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According to Job Accommodation Network: https://askjan.org/disabilities/Mental-Health-Conditions.cfm