Sometimes you have to talk to your boss about depression. It might be difficult for you to imagine talking to some of your friends about your depression, much less your boss. Personally, I have disclosed my depression to my bosses at several different jobs, and it was never easy, but it was always worth it. Before you jump into this tough conversation, there are several factors you should consider.

Being self-employed presents a number of challenges. If you compound being self-employed with having a mental illness, it can be a very difficult dynamic. However, the dynamic may work better than a traditional employment situation for someone living with depression.

Many individuals that live with major depressive disorder decide to pursue a career despite their sometimes debilitating illness. If you are interested in working, you should consider several things regarding your choice in employment. In order to increase the likelihood of success, it is imperative that you choose a job that best suits you and how your depression manifests.

Like many average people that we share the world with, people living with depression have good days and bad days. However, when you have depression, your bad brain day can turn into bad brain days, weeks, months, etc. Depending on the nature of your depression and depressive episodes (frequency, severity and length), it can sometimes feel impossible to manage your life in any area, much less a job. 

As of June of 2014, there were over 21 million living veterans in the United States according to the United States Department of Veterans Affairs. This figure, considering the population of the United States, certainly makes the occupation significant. The dynamics of war, and the soldiers that fight them, have some parallels to the dynamics of living with chronic mental illness while trying to manage a vocation.

More tips on keeping a job when you have depression? Yes. More. In the last article, I shared five tips for how to maintain a job with depression. Most of those tips centered around physiological wellness enhance performance on the job. This article will delve into five additional things you can do to keep a job when you have depression.

Have you ever experienced the joy of being offered an employment opportunity? We may make the statement, "I got the job!" with a happy tone and then say it again with an anxious tone. Why? Because we landed the job, but will we be able to maintain it? We know that depression can prevent people from functioning well enough to meet work demands. But take a look at these tips to maintain a job with depression to see how you can keep that employment.

Resilience is a gradual learning process. It can be useful in both personal and work situations. These are only recommendations on building resilience, there are many more. Test a few out and try the ones that work for you.

One of the traits for success in business is resiliency. Resilience is the ability to adapt and rebound when plans or schedules don't go as they should. Part of resiliency is being able to quickly analyze a situation. If a mistake has been made, learn from it and move on. No need to dwell on the situation for a long period. A leading psychologist has researched resilience and found there are three factors that are necessary to have resilience:

It is that time of the season. Many individuals and families are putting their vacation plans together. For some, a vacation consists of running around at full speed with major anxiety and stress. Others may prefer to try a new activity, such as zip-line or scuba diving. Many with bipolar disorder and myself included, prefer the relaxed, slower than normal pace (warm climates help in the slowing down process). Doing the vacation thing with the least amount of anxiety or stress as possible with bipolar disorder does take a little advance planning (When Bipolar Ruins Your Vacation).