Need Advice on Bipolar
Hello, I'm not sure which topic for the thread to fall under, so I hope General is okay.
A long story short, I'm asking on behalf of my brother. He is the Vice President of one department in the company he works at. He has an employee under him, which I believe has Bipolar, Depression and possibly other mental health issues. My brother has been working at home since Covid, and he mainly just have meetings with his team. So, back to this employee. My brother has a lot of stress speaking with her, as she reacts to everything he says. She picks on certain words he uses and even breaks down during their conversations. She keeps talking about resigning, and had even recently handed in her resignation to HR, but still seems to be expecting my brother to say something to her to ask her to stay. She keeps saying that my brother is of no help, and that he's not standing on her side. But, my brother thinks that spending 2 hours chatting with her is already giving her the time and help. My brother is clueless in how to deal with her. She's always asking for help, but never saying how or what she needs help with. It seems like she doesn't actually want to leave the company, but she's always threatening my brother with saying she wants to resign, then going off to say that he won't be able to hire someone like her to replace her position. And yet, she's not exactly much help with the company anymore, because of her mental health, She often signs off from meetings midway, because she gets angry or has a break down. My brother actually really wants her to resign, as her mood is affecting the rest of the team. She also goes off telling other people, within and outside the department about the conversations she has with my brother. So, my brother also has to be careful in what he says, as he knows that it will end up in someone else's ears.
So, my question is, does anyone have any techniques in how to speak to someone with Bipolar? What is it that she really wants to hear from my brother? Any advice is appreciated, thanks.
@Jaeteuk At 7 Cups we are not allowed to give advice, unfortunately. This is clearly stated in our community guidelines. However, there are plenty of other websites where you can find advice on bipolar disorder, types I and II.
I am not an expert, but your description of your brother's employee does not sound like anyone I know who has bipolar disorder, so I am confused about how you came to believe she has bipolar. If she does have a mental illness of some kind, then it seems possible that the best source of advice for your brother might be an employment lawyer or a human resources consultant.
Your brother is, of course, very welcome to join 7 Cups himself, and to seek support from our listeners.
Charlie
@RarelyCharlie, thank you for your info. Maybe advice is the wrong term to use.. I only think she has bipolar because her symptoms looked similar to some people I knew. From what my brother shares with the family, it is clear that she has some form of mental health issues, if not, more than one type. I only wish I could help lessen the stress my brother gets from dealing with her, and wanted to ask how to give general support.
Are you suggesting I speak with a listener about this instead?
Has she been romantically linked to your brother or something? It sounds like she's trying to manipulate him for some reason. And they're just co-workers 🤔 What does she expect? Seems kind of strange.
Maybe she has feelings for your brother 🤔
No, definitely no romantic relationship there. Just a normal lady working under my brother. She complains a lot, has mental breakdowns during meetings, and always pick on words my brother uses and say he's against her. She understands everything to the extreme, and yet when my brother asks what it is she wants, she's unable to say anything. As if she's expecting my brother to say what she wants to hear.
I'm hoping that someone can teach me how I could let my brother know how to communicate with her.
@SweetPea321