A single case study: Striving for stability and work - ``it's a real bastard of a disease''

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Samson S. Tse, | Michael Yeats, | Anne E.S. Walsh,

Affiliations: Department of Occupational Therapy, Otago Polytechnic, Dunedin and | Department of Psychological Medicine, Dunedin School of Medicine, University of Otago, New Zealand

Note: [] Department of Occupational Therapy, Otago Polytechnic, Private Bag 1910, Dunedin, New Zealand. Tel.: +1 64 3 479 8185; Fax: +1 64 3 474 0238; E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract: This paper outlines a narrative description of the inner experience of one man with bipolar affective disorder highlighting his attempts to strive for work while maintaining on-going mental stability. The narrative is based upon a semi-structured interview, review of case notes, psychiatric and psychosocial evaluation. Such narrative accounts may help to develop a better understanding of the complex work related issues for individuals with bipolar disorder and as such, may help generate hypotheses for further research. This gentleman's experiences are summarised under the following headings: i) personal factors related to employment, ii) employer/job factors and iii) community factors.

Keywords: employment, bipolar affective disorder, psychiatric rehabilitation

Journal: Work, vol. 12, no. 2, pp. 151-157, 1999