Intrusive thoughts at work

[Guest_92]

I have been suffering from Harm OCD thoughts over time and it got worse 2 years ago that I need to undergo medication to control my sickness.

Recently at work there's been a new manager appointed and she has been keep checking on when I come to work and what I am doing on my desk which triggered those thoughts again, which were violent. Those thoughts made me feel stressed and angry to attend the office and it has affected my daily life that I notified HR about having those thoughts.

Then they suspended me pending on independent medical examination and tomorrow I am going to have a meeting to discuss employment circumstances with them and also review the report.

I am not feeling too well about it and I am not expecting return to work. I just want to know, if they decided to dismiss me, does it constitute discrimination or something that I can apply to FWA for General Protection based on my mental disability?

Furthermore, is there something called 'Medical Retirement' that I can put on to? No matter it is dismissal or medical retirement, what is my minimum entitlement on those?

The intrusive thoughts I have at work has not only applied to the work I am doing, but also applies to other's work that when I heard about people starting at ridiculous times, or being under surveillance of what they do in the office (or even out of the office), forcing them to do overtime, or some unfair rules/treatment at the workplace, I have those thoughts exist to harm people at work. I have been undergo treatment for this but till now I still feel struggling to eliminate those thoughts. As the result, am I eligible for Disability Support Pension or welfare payment that will eliminate myself from returning to work ever? I am worried if I run out of money, Centrelink will force me to do some certain work that I don't like to do and I would have been acting on those thoughts which can lead to significant consequences. 😞

[Neil_1]

Hi there Guest,

Welcome to Beyond Blue and thank you for providing your post.

I’ve read this a couple of times and my thoughts on this are that you’ve:

a) At least done some good research into the matter and that you seem to know the places where to go to next. In line with this, I’d be trying to seek out an officer of those organisations who might be able to give you some advice on some of the issues you’ve raised;

b) Just with the new manager, is there or has there been no opportunity to discuss with her what your role is and the function you perform at work? I’m not trying to make it sound less than it is, but possibly there could be a line of mis-communication or mis-information provided to you and that if things are expressed out in the open and be up front, there may in fact, be no bigger issue at all? Just a thought.


c) The last thing I’d like to raise or mention is the part in the last para, where (and did I read this correct?) that you in the future, if put under pressure or into a job you don’t like, could be capable of harming other work colleagues? Or is it self-harming yourself? If either of those is what you were suggesting, I’d be probably seeking out an appointment with your gp as soon as possible … in fact, perhaps that could be a first step, before you even approach my first option of (a).

I hope that some of this has been of at least a little help.

Kind regards

Neil

[blondguy]

Hey Guest92

Good on you for having the courage to post...Its takes great strength

Neil has brought up some excellent points above too

These thoughts can be a pain. I have had chronic anxiety followed by depression for 35 years and any type of mental illness is debilitating.

The Disability Pension is a very difficult area. Even with my depression I still dont qualify as the DHS dont easily accept mental illness in some cases....and yes that isnt what you want to hear...Im in the same boat as you.

As Neil mentioned I do hope you can see your doc...even to have a good vent to. Your GP will also have a sound knowledge on the Sickness benefit criteria as well

If you are stuck...dont forget we have qualified counselors available 24/7 on 1300 22 4636..They are very gentle and non judgemental too

You are not alone here Guest...please let us know how you are going..even just for a chat 🙂

my kind thoughts for you

Paul

[geoff]

hello Guest, a post that intrigues me, and thanks, Neil and Paul for replying, especially as it's not an easy comment to reply to.
I suffer from OCD, however, I wonder if you display your OCD when at your desk so that other people can see what you're doing.
If they dismiss you, especially if your new boss doesn't like what you are doing because of your illness then you are entitled to contact the FWA for wrongful dismissal, but with this will take quite a while to be finalised, as you will be dragged through the courts and expenses will be high.
Each new government that comes into power always change the rules on how you are able to get a pension, making it harder and harder for those people who certainly can't work for medical reasons, the system is unfair, because these people have doctor's letters plus psych assessments which may not to taken into account, that's not reasonable.
Can you google 'intrusive thoughts' because that's what you're suffering from when you say
'I have those thoughts to harm people at work' and is very common if you are suffering from OCD.
There's much more about this but I'd like to hear back from first. Geoff.