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People really need to stick to what is relevent when thinking about making complaints. Staying up late, getting up early, painting your house in one day are not things that, necessarily, impact how someone does their job. The issue is can she do her job? If she can't, then it's up to her administration to step in. This woman is being crucified for behaviors that wouldn't raise an eyebrow in anyone else.
As to self medication, you'd be surprised at the number of people who self medicate with OTC medications and things like alcohol. Both are booming industries. If this woman is bipolar, at least she's self medicating an actual issue.
On or off of his medication, my father, usually, managed to do his job (my father could go into severe manic phases where he couldn't). Fortunately, he had a union backing him so that he was allowed to do his job as long as he could and only removed from it when necessary. If this woman is bipolar, it's up to her doctors and her administrators to monitor her ability to actually teach. Being in a manic or even depressive state doesn't mean she can't teach. Judge her on the job she does in the classroom not on whether she decides to paint her entire house in 24 hours. Perhaps she just wanted it done. Perhaps she can't sleep tonight because she has something on her mind. Stick to the facts that are relevent. I can't tell you how much more difficult our lives were made by meddling people who thought they knew better than my father's doctors how he should be handled and what should be done.
Before you do anything, ask yourself if you'd be concerned if you hadn't been told she was bipolar. If the answer is no, then MYOB.
Last edited by Ivorytickler; 11-26-2009 at 10:02 AM..
People really need to stick to what is relevent when thinking about making complaints. Staying up late, getting up early, painting your house in one day are not things that, necessarily, impact how someone does their job. The issue is can she do her job? If she can't, then it's up to her administration to step in. This woman is being crucified for behaviors that wouldn't raise an eyebrow in anyone else.
As to self medication, you'd be surprised at the number of people who self medicate with OTC medications and things like alcohol. Both are booming industries. If this woman is bipolar, at least she's self medicating an actual issue.
On or off of his medication, my father, usually, managed to do his job (my father could go into severe manic phases where he couldn't). Fortunately, he had a union backing him so that he was allowed to do his job as long as he could and only removed from it when necessary. If this woman is bipolar, it's up to her doctors and her administrators to monitor her ability to actually teach. Being in a manic or even depressive state doesn't mean she can't teach. Judge her on the job she does in the classroom not on whether she decides to paint her entire house in 24 hours. Perhaps she just wanted it done. Perhaps she can't sleep tonight because she has something on her mind. Stick to the facts that are relevent. I can't tell you how much more difficult our lives were made by meddling people who thought they knew better than my father's doctors how he should be handled and what should be done.
Before you do anything, ask yourself if you'd be concerned if you hadn't been told she was bipolar. If the answer is no, then MYOB.
The only reason I ever thought about doing anything was to get this nutcase out of MY business. She was smack dab in the middle of it. However I did nothing and my daughter and I have avoided her and all is well.
I KNOW it because she told me all of this, asked ME for narcotics to help her sleep because she knew I had just been treated for kidney stones and had some Lortab. She drinks to help her come down from her manic phases. I am NOT against drinking but I am against people using alcohol to treat their psychiatric disorder AND then say they don't need treatment from a psychiatrist.
NONE of this is something from the grapevine, I know this all to be 100% true, she told me herself, I live in the same neighborhood with her. I have watched her in a manic phase, I have seen it all.
Have you seen her in her classroom? Does any of this affect her students?
Again, someone admitting a diagnosis doesn't make it true. People have been known to self diagnose and be wrong. Sometimes, they just want an excuse for behaviors they find difficult to control. Sometimes, they just want attention. Sometimes, they're just wrong. Unless you have access to someone's medical records, you should be taking what you are told with a grain of salt NOT trying to use it to end someone's career. That's a good way to get sued for slander.
Given the other behaviors fescribed-- painting an entire house in a day-- I would have no reason to believe this person is lying. For that matter, my default setting is not to automatically assume people are lying, though I'm quite sure mileage varies on that.
And if someone is that much of a drama queen that she'd do something of the sort, and further goes about asking the neighbors for controlled meds, I still don't want my kid in her class.
And slander's only slander if 1) it's not true, and 2) you didn't start the rumor yourself.
Unless the teacher's performance was suffering, or she had posed a real threat (not just the threat perceived by the uneducated or paranoid) to the students, I wouldn't have a problem with her. On the contrary, what a great way for students to learn to kick aside the stigma that hounds people with mental illnesses.
You don't seem to understand bipolar disorder. The disease affects different people in different ways, and affects the same people differently on different days. Not everyone has every single one of those symptoms you're reading about, nor is everyone symptomatic every minute of the day. This teacher may get along just fine with minimal medication, taken only when she's symptomatic.
You can't paint everyone with bipolar disorder with the same brush.
Oh brother. Let's turn the drugged out manic depressive into a learning experience. Maybe we should hire psycho murderers released from mental institutions to teach the kids, too. What better way for the kiddies to learn about murder than firsthand. Would this be like letting the female pedophile teachers back into the classroom so the kids can learn about sex?
Oh brother. Let's turn the drugged out manic depressive into a learning experience. Maybe we should hire psycho murderers released from mental institutions to teach the kids, too. What better way for the kiddies to learn about murder than firsthand. Would this be like letting the female pedophile teachers back into the classroom so the kids can learn about sex?
What about drugged out on pain killers or any other condition that requires constant medical treatment? The questions shouldn't be what drugs does she need to function but is she functioning? While she should be monitored (assuming she actually has the condition) however, having it doesn't mean she is not fit to teach.
She is ill. She is NOT a pedophile and she is not a murderer. She has broken no laws. Why are you comparing her to a criminal?
You might want to take some time to actually learn about the condition. It's not an illegal activity one decides to engage in. No laws are broken here. Why you'd compare someone who is bi-polar to a criminal that society needs to be protected from is beyond me. People who are bi-polar can and do hold down jobs. My father did for many years.
My ex-husband was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. He never had a period of taking medication even ONCE in the 13 years I have known him. His new wife might think I am making it up but he does deal with his disorder by focusing on abusing me and nothing else. Sad but true. Many people deny having a problem and getting REAL help for it.
I'm pretty sure a lot of my teachers were bipolar, especially in high school, and a few were raging alcoholics. But nothing was ever done about it, that was just the way it was. However, things are different these days, that type of behavior should never be tolerated in a classroom. This is just one more to add to the many reasons why I homeschool, I would never subject my kid to such craziness. Btw, I'm not judging you at all, or suggestion you homeschool, I'm just giving you my opinion.
I know that I had a bipolar teacher in high school. I worked at the pharmacy where she got her meds. She wasn't my favorite teacher in the world, she was grumpy sometimes.....but she was a good teacher! AND she never did anything bad at school.
The symptoms that some of you have read about are POSSIBLE SYMTOMS WITHOUT MEDICATION. Every bipolar person does not have all of the symptoms, AND when they are on the right meds, they may not have ANY of those symptoms. I just feel like so many people are assuming that since she is probably bipolar, she will have ALL of these symptoms, and therefore she should not teach.
My husband is bipolar. Many of you are acting like bipolar means crazy. My husband does take medication, but I'm telling you he is a VERY NORMAL person! No one would even know that he was bipolar unless we told them.
Please don't judge people based on a medical illness that they were born with. Please judge this lady on her ability to teach, and not her quirky habits at home!
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What about drugged out on pain killers or any other condition that requires constant medical treatment? The questions shouldn't be what drugs does she need to function but is she functioning? While she should be monitored (assuming she actually has the condition) however, having it doesn't mean she is not fit to teach. 
