Treatment Does the Americans with disabilities act protect you if you need to go inpatient for two weeks?

[Juicewrldfan]

So my therapist told me that if my sleep pattern doesn’t improve that I am going to have to go to the hospital and that I’m sleep deprived. I don’t feel sleep deprived but I trust her judgment as I’ve seen her weekly for 7 years. She said she is trying to prevent it from getting worse. Says I’m manic. And I am manic but I am safe. No risk aside from the risks associated with mild mania.

Yet, I wouldn’t mind getting stabilized before I end up relapsing. And yet, I just started a new job. It’s my 4th week there. Does anyone know if the ADA protects you if I have to go inpatient? My wife is freaking out because she is afraid I’ll lose my job.

 

[snmfmy]

I don't know if a sleep pattern issue would be considered a disability. It may, but I don't know.

Short-term bouts of depression specifically are not considered a disability.

An employer has to have 15 employees or more for the ADA to apply.

Anyway, unpaid medical leave under the ADA is usually limited to 12 weeks just like the FMLA.

All the employer has to do is ensure that a comparable position is available to you when you return to work.

There can be issues if you did not disclose your disability to your employer during the hiring process.

It's more likely that the family and medical leave act, fmla, for employers with 50 or more employees, would apply to you.

The FMLA basically means that you can't be fired because you had to take medical leave.

You don't get paid leave (unless you've already accrued it or it's given an advance as the policy of the company), and there are restrictions regarding how protected your job is. Like they don't have to give you your explicit job back. They just have to give you comparable position when you return to work.

That said, most HR departments know exactly how to get rid of an employee legally without repercussion if the medical leave excessively prevents an employee from actually working.

 

[Madness]

For FMLA you need at least 1,250 hours or something, I'm reading.

Sort of a tough situation here.

Would a candid conversation with your boss go anywhere? Maybe say you only need a couple days and that you will/have taken care of business?

 

[Juicewrldfan]

I don't know if a sleep pattern issue would be considered a disability. It may, but I don't know.

Short-term bouts of depression specifically are not considered a disability.

An employer has to have 15 employees or more for the ADA to apply.

Anyway, unpaid medical leave under the ADA is usually limited to 12 weeks just like the FMLA.

All the employer has to do is ensure that a comparable position is available to you when you return to work.

There can be issues if you did not disclose your disability to your employer during the hiring process.

It's more likely that the family and medical leave act, fmla, for employers with 50 or more employees, would apply to you.

The FMLA basically means that you can't be fired because you had to take medical leave.

You don't get paid leave (unless you've already accrued it or it's given an advance as the policy of the company), and there are restrictions regarding how protected your job is. Like they don't have to give you your explicit job back. They just have to give you comparable position when you return to work.

That said, most HR departments know exactly how to get rid of an employee legally without repercussion if the medical leave excessively prevents an employee from actually working.

Yes but for mania - not just a sleep pattern issue. But bipolar disorder stabilization. Sorry I didn’t explain it well.

 

[snmfmy]

Yes but for mania - not just a sleep pattern issue. But bipolar disorder stabilization. Sorry I didn’t explain it well.

Now don't take this as me saying that if you didn't disclose your disability upon being hired that the ADA would not apply to you.

Sometimes there are issues claiming a disability when you did not notify your employer upon being hired. Not always but sometimes.

I would call a disability advocacy group or your physician cuz she should know.

There are also concerns about what is a reasonable accommodation and if going on extended medical leave for manic depression a few weeks after being hired is reasonable to the employer.

 

[snmfmy]

Yes but for mania - not just a sleep pattern issue. But bipolar disorder stabilization. Sorry I didn’t explain it well.

Now if the issue is health insurance that you're concerned about, you can't lose your health insurance by being fired, you get to have cobra, but you have to pay whatever the insurer pays for your policy.

 

[Jeanpauldash]

How are you inpatient working

 

[Juicewrldfan]

Now don't take this as me saying that if you didn't disclose your disability upon being hired that the ADA would not apply to you.

Sometimes there are issues claiming a disability when you did not notify your employer upon being hired. Not always but sometimes.

I would call a disability advocacy group or your physician cuz she should know.

There are also concerns about what is a reasonable accommodation and if going on extended medical leave for manic depression a few weeks after being hired is reasonable to the employer.

I got diagnosed the same week I started this job or I should say rediagnosed treatment and also why does it allow you to “decline to answer” on disabilities? I would think that they would be understanding that not all want to lead with “hey I got bipolar disorder” type thing on an application ya know?

I don’t ever claim a disability on an application because I always am applying for leadership positions and who wants to hire a leader with bipolar disorder.

 

[Juicewrldfan]

How are you inpatient working

Im not inpatient at the moment. My therapist said if my symptoms don’t improve by Monday that she wants me to go inpatient or rather she said I have to.

That said I slept from 7-230 last night so I think as long as this keeps up I won’t have to go.

 

[Soso78]

U getting sectioned mate?

 

[snmfmy]

U getting sectioned mate?

It's actually a lot more difficult to be involuntarily committed in the United States, than people think.

And in every state, you have the right to an attorney to challenge your involuntary commitment or detention.

Most people that are "Baker acted" (Florida) or placed on 5150 hold (California) are not in the mental state of mind to request an attorney to challenge their involuntary commitment.

The fundamental requirement is that there has to be a reasonable belief (Not just a suspicion) that you're a danger to yourself or others.

 

[snmfmy]

Im not inpatient at the moment. My therapist said if my symptoms don’t improve by Monday that she wants me to go inpatient or rather she said I have to.

That said I slept from 7-230 last night so I think as long as this keeps up I won’t have to go.

I honestly think based On everything that you share on the boards that you're bouncing back and forth taking way too many different medications.

 

[Jeanpauldash]

Just lose your job and go if no one in your life would stay or take you home. Then go move in with the person who has to help. With nothing.
Have fun

 

[Juicewrldfan]

I honestly think based On everything that you share on the boards that you're bouncing back and forth taking way too many different medications.

Well the meds I tried I don’t take I only took for a day or two. Ive only been on brixadi suboxone abilify currently. And testosterone.

Just lose your job and go if no one in your life would stay or take you home. Then go move in with the person who has to help. With nothing.
Have fun

Idk what you are saying.

 

[snmfmy]

Well the meds I tried I don’t take I only took for a day or two. Ive only been on brixadi suboxone abilify currently. And testosterone.

Idk what you are saying.

Yes, but you've tried like over a dozen different meds. I think in the last month or two that is not good.

And how in the world do you even know if the things you try are going to work or not if you only try them for a day or two?

Almost every effective psychotropic medication takes a good week or two to assess efficacy.

 

[Juicewrldfan]

Yes, but you've tried like over a dozen different meds. I think in the last month or two that is not good.

And how in the world do you even know if the things you try are going to work or not if you only try them for a day or two?

Almost every effective psychotropic medication takes a good week or two to assess efficacy.

No. I only tried lithium then my new dr said not to take it and I was prescribe topmax before I knew about the cognitive decline so never took it. I asked about some meds in the interest of knowing some anectdotal experiences mostly. As far as psych meds go this year I have only been prescribed abilify (still take) topamax (never took) lithium (took before I knew enough about the risks then stopped when I did) Clonidine (not keen on taking a blood pressure med so I did stop that one)

So much less than a dozen if you are speaking psych meds. I do get your point though.

 

[FindingSobriety]

It's actually a lot more difficult to be involuntarily committed in the United States, than people think.

Sounds like you’ve never been 5150’d before. It’s incredibly easy to get committed for at least 72 hours, which then almost always turns into a week long stay (at a minimum).

And in every state, you have the right to an attorney to challenge your involuntary commitment or detention.

lol, once again, sounds like you’ve never been committed before. You don’t get a chance to talk to an attorney unless you already have one on the outside. Even if you have one on the outside, the chances of you being released before your attorney can get a court hearing are nearly 100%. Very, very rarely do involuntary commitments last more than two weeks. Especially if you decide to sign-in voluntarily after you’ve been detained involuntarily. You always want to sign in voluntarily as that’s the fastest way to get out.

Most people that are "Baker acted" (Florida) or placed on 5150 hold (California) are not in the mental state of mind to request an attorney to challenge their involuntary commitment.

I’d say that number is more like 1/3rd of the cases. 2/3rds of the people who get involuntarily committed are actually fairly stable, and are not clearly in a the midst of a psychotic break.

The fundamental requirement is that there has to be a reasonable belief (Not just a suspicion) that you're a danger to yourself or others.

In a perfect world, maybe. But in reality? You can get involuntarily committed for very little reason. It’s all up to the attending psychiatrist you see (virtually) when you’re originally detained (most of which are contracted through another company, and are predominantly female). By the time you get your attorney involved (if you have an attorney) and get a court date, you’re typically only a few days away from getting discharged. The Psychiatrists/Hospitals know this, that’s why basically 9/10 people who go to the ER with mental health issues wind up being involuntarily detained, even if they don’t really need to be.

Source: I’ve been detained literally dozens of times in the past 5 years, lol.

 

[FindingSobriety]

And to the OP, I would never mention anything to my employer about being bipolar. There are still a great number of people in the US (assuming you’re in the US) who don’t understand what BPD actually is, and think everyone with bipolar disorder is capable of massacring people (because that’s all they hear about on the news).

In my experience, your employer won’t have any idea you’ve been detained in a mental health facility, so long as that facIlity is connected to an actual hospital. Upon discharge, you’ll get a letter simply stating to excuse you from work due to a medical emergency. Said letter doesn’t say anything in regards to what specific emergency you had. So you can basically just tell your employer you had a “medical emergency” and that’s it.

I would not go the ADA route, especially if you haven’t been officially designated as disabled. I also wouldn’t go the FMLA route, especially if you’ve just recently been hired.

I would simply call your employer from the hospital, say you have a medical emergency, then tell them it might be a week or so until you’re able to be discharged / return to work. And leave it at that.

I’m not sure what your HR policies are, but I’m rather certain they can’t fire you for a medical emergency, nor pry into the exact reason behind said emergency.

 

[Dr. J]

Here are a couple authoritative sources for the main question. HR/legal background here... feel free to ask questions if you do not find your answers in the these links. Best of luck to you!

EDIT*** Adding Mental Health Info as well, my apologies!

Reasonable Accommodations for Bipolar/Mental Health

Leave Time as Reasonable Accommodation

ADA and Alcoholism / Drug Addiction

Reasonable Accommodations for Employees with Substance Addiction

Justice Dept Issues Guidance on Protections under ADA for Substance Use

 

[Juicewrldfan]

Well fuck, I went for a medication psych evaluation appointment and for a mood stabilizer and fucking left with a script for Ritalin or and daytrana I think is the name or daynavel. Whatever one is the racemic amp.

So dunno how the fuck that happened but sure enough I used all 280mg of ir Ritalin last night. Freaking had a slip.

And now my therapist is going to think I did it on purpose but no the dr said it sounds like I cold turkey quit my adhd meds and that’s the problem so fuck
Man.

Now my therapist is going to for sure commit me FFS.

I’m not supposed to be getting any stimulants as an agreement because I abuse them.

And of course I feel like shit now. Mentally. Wish there was something I can take to get rid of this shit but only waiting it out ever works.