I am a disability support worker and have been in the field for the past three years.
Due to my mental illness, I am currently not working and because I zoned out on shift, work is now asking for a letter from my psych or psych nurse, proving that I am fit for work.
The hospital wrote out a general letter for my employer but it was not good enough for my employer and they are insisting upon a specific letter from a psych or psych nurse.
The hospital is not budging and even said no when I asked to have a conversation with my case worker, my boss and myself. The hospital is claiming that they have done enough their part by writing a general letter.
My hands are tied and my next step is to have another talk with work, but I don't know where we go to from here.
If I'm honest though, I don't think I am ready to go back to work. The irony is, that this whole thing has made my mental health even worse because of the amount of pressure I've been put under to obtain this letter that the hospital has refused to write.
My anxiety actually sky rocketed due to all the pressure, and I ended up in hospital twice over the last month.
My mum is suggesting that I ask for a few more months of unpaid leave, get a good amount of CBT and any other therapy I can find and then look at returning to work after that little hiatus of self-care.
This has really smashed my self esteem though.
I miss the old me who could once work 20-30 hours a fortnight and who was contributing to society by assisting people with disabilities.
I used to give back to the community!
Now I am sick and clutching onto my job for dear life and feeling worthless because I cannot work.
I need to find my self esteem again.
Cheers for listening
~Butterfly.
