Quit my job due to depression and anxiety

[SHELBY MUSTANG]

Hi all my first post.

I recently resigned from my corporate job and have 1 and a half weeks till I finally leave, early May.

The job pays 80k and I have no other job lined up, luckily I have managed to save money up but I could not cope anymore as my depression was overwhelming me and my workload was ever increasing. The company is very disorganised and I was given no training or handover with 4 major projects and management didnt care they expected me to deliver by working unpaid overtime.

It came to a head one day when I started crying at my desk, luckily no one saw me. The work colleagues are horrible and evil, one of them was making fun of me saying I was going to fail in delivering one of the projects and another guy said I was too ugly to have a girl friend. I have been single for a very long time but have a few close female friends but I m in the friend zone only which probably only adds to my depression and loneliness.

The sheer workload every day makes me anxious and I struggle to get out of bed on workdays, even on my days off I cannot sleep and when I do I get out of bed at 1-2pm as I have no motivation whatsoever.

I have told them I am leaving for personal reasons as I plan to spend time with my elderly mother, I did not trust them to tell them I was depressed and unhappy in the company and my role. I actually asked for 3 months Long Service Leave but they said we were too busy and they couldn't let me have time off. I have 9 weeks sick leave and I sometimes think I should have taken the sick leave instead but I know deep down I hate the job and the company and all that will do is delay the inevitable.

I m scared of not having a job especially when I was paid a decent salary, I haven't looked for one as I don't know what to do, I don't think I can work anymore in evil greedy Corporate Companies that use you, I was only making the Execs rich working all the extra hours.

But I realise my mental health is suffering and I have to walk away from all the noise and get my health, happiness, motivation and passion back. Its actually hard for me to apply for other jobs when I m so depressed all the time as this will show up in job interviews, its hard to hide. I am worried when I apply for jobs the fact I quit will go against me, but I did work for my current company for almost 10 years.

Has anyone been or is in a similar situation and give me advice, I m so unhappy all the time and hope it will lift when I walk out the door.

[Always]

I just wanted to say that this thread means a lot to me. I'm single and work in a stressful government job that pays about $77k. I have some debts and plenty of rent and bills to pay so i really stress about the idea of quitting and not being able to make ends meet as i haven't really been able to save much. My job causes me so much anxiety and panic that I've been unsure I can go on. But today i asked my team leader about seeing if i can go part time for a little bit - just to have 1 day per fortnight off. Hopefully this is possible. I need some time for me so i can get some balance back in my life. It would also make a good opportunity to see how I go on a slightly reduced income.

I hope everything has worked out well for everyone else in this thread.

[Doolhof]

Hi Always,

Best of luck with this, hope it does work out for you.

Do you have hobbies sand interests that you do enjoy doing when you have the time?

Do you have ideas relating to what might help you feel better about life in general?

Are there ways you can find ideas and strategies on how to deal differently with the issues at work? Is there a HR person you can talk to at work who may be able to help you with this?

ope you find some answers.

Cheers from Dools

[SoTrue]

Hi Shelby,

Thank you for this.. could not have come at a better time.

I have 2 weeks left of my resignation period - the difference for me I had no bullying & my colleagues are wonderful, but the workload & stress has become insurmountable. I cannot stand my clients and the unrealistic expectations.

Im afraid I have quit a "perfectly good job"

Anyway, hope things have come up roses for you

[Evoleht95]

Hi everyone!

I have not left my job, however i do feel like i want to....

My depression does not stem from work, but it certainly does contribute. My job (debts) is actually not that bad, the people i work with a re great, my managers have been really great with all the time i have taken off due to being physically unwell (something that my depression has affected) but the nature of my work tends to mean i am treated quite rudely and aggressively by customers, and even some with their own mental health issues which only triggers me. Some calls i can barely hold it together before i'm in tears. I feel as though i want to leave and focus on my study and my mental health, but with no leave left, only being at this job for 11 months, and nothing to go to i am really struggling and i feel as though i'm getting worse.

I really don't know what to do, but i feel like if i stay in this job too much longer, my health is only going to get worse 😕

I'm not sure that i have helped anyone, but knowing that others are struggling as well has definitely made me feel less alone, and knowing i am not the only one is somewhat of a comfort.

i wish all the best to everyone, and i hope we can all make it through !

[So-crates]

I have recently resigned from my management position after six years in the role. During this time I have substantially worked seven days per week and and been on-call outside of working hours. I have received treatment for depression on and off most of my adult life and currently on anti depressant meds and counselling. For financial reasons I need to work and will instead take on a lower position in the same organisation at four days per week. I plan to address the many issues that I have ignored over the past six years, eating better, exercise, work at home, relationships. I am scared that despite the changes I will still not be up to the reduced workload and dread what the next step down will be. I also feel that I am betraying the organisation that I work for and leaving them in the lurch.

[Bedesdog]

Hi all,

some interesting stories. Thanks for sharing. I have just joined this website today.

i was recently in a senior position earning in excess of $140k per year. The job was busy..with some stress.

some recent organisational changes From a national manager (who was a mentor) to a state manager who knew nothing of my role.

i had been there 2.5 years and all of the team I started with had left, so I felt like I was being pushed as I was always being blamed for not providing my colleagues with their requirements. Two of my colleagues had no experience in the industry I worked in (technical) but still management blamed me and constantly defended my colleagues in experience.

i stared to get long emails from my colleagues to me with my manger ccd in blaming me for issues and what I had not done..

this behaviuour by inexperienced colleagues led me to a point where I had to re-sign..my manager would not do anything to resolve.

i had a car accident 4 months before this time where I was a passenger which I had ongoing physio appointments etc.

i have the reason of my resignation to my manager due to stress and being micro managed by inexperienced colleagues along with the car accident. He offered no assistance or remorse..

I managed to seek some counselling through my current accident claim..I have now been advised that I have depression and a mood disorder and have had for some time.

i am hopeful of working through these issues but I now don’t have a job and have two young children and my wife only works part time.

i have applied for over 40 jobs since 4th April but now feel guilty for re-signing a well paid job - Centrelink is a joke as I have run out of savings and putting everything into hardship mode before I consider selling car ..but still I can’t get anything to work with them..

i am trying to come up with different lines of opportunity or jobs to apply for but until Centrelink officially recognise me as now in a disadvantaged position I can’t get any help.

i am really at a wits end (my family is trying to help) but I get angry with the ‘system’ as people like me can just seem to easily disappear into a hole and never get out. No one would know..I have been told it’s my own fault for quitting without a job..I have never been unemployed before..

just wandering if anyone else had any ideas as everything is compounding - accident, new found depression, feelings of worthlessness because I can’t get a job, my wife now stressed out.

thanks..

[lilly2016]

Hi there, it's been some time since you posted this and as a beyond blue user, I was curious to know what happened to your situation after you quit, I am in the same boat and just wanted to know how you got on.Regards,

[SHELBY MUSTANG]

Well hello there it’s been awhile, I had 15 months off work and I was very relaxed and had no worries apart from my diminishing savings. So I have returned to contract work and on my 3rd contract since August last year. It’s been difficult to find a job even entry level so I am grateful to be earning $$$ that said this current job is stressing me out I have been given no trading, some people have been there over 20 years so see me either as a threat or interloper and don’t talk to me so I basically sit in silence. So I am very unhappy and even though I think they will ask me to stag on I won’t I can’t work under those conditions with my anxiety and depression coming back so I will just see out my contract for the next few months and then have another break and maybe travel overseas if I feel up to it rather than slave unhappily away at another soul destroying job in a dark corporate company.

I dont regret leaving my long term job, however sometimes me times I wish that I said I suffer from depression and need a year off just so I had a safety net to return but I know they would probably have said no and would have hurt my future referrals.

So here I am again about to cast myself adrift into the wide blue sea of uncertainty but again I need that freedom and don’t want to spend my time away from work stressed and unable to sleep.

I still haven’t found that peace but I need to keep looking and I have no happiness in my current role.

[Andoson72]

I too was earning 130k plus per year and had to quit and been unemployed for 2 out of the past 3 years and burns through over 100k in savings. The common denominator seems to be money and unhappy in our jobs. Ooh how much would depression resolve if we did not have to play this game of monopoly.

[MlSn]

Hello ShelbyMustang

I have read your posts from2017 till 2019. You sound like a strong person. I have been jobless since March , due to poor coping ability , anxiety, loads of self doubt and feeling anti social. I am living on bank account money as I have no eligibility for Centrelink . Covid ( for me in Vic ) has kept me locked up most of the time at home on the internet. How are you now ?