When you need a Mental Health day from work

[KOBI-C]

Hi everyone,

I suffer from major depression and thankfully have been pretty well and managed my condition with medication and therapy over the last couple of months, but with any mental illness come days when you don't feel so good and sometimes just need to take a sick day off work.

So my problem now is that over the last 2 weeks i needed 3 days off for my mental health (not consecutive days) and after coming back my boss made me feel that my mental illness made me weak and basically tried to make me take leave for an extended period to get better. At first i tried to make her understand that i just needed so those days of so i could re-focus and feel mentally better in my self and that i don't need extended leave. She then stated that if i felt that i needed mental health days off that i was maybe in the wrong career and needed a job with less stress. This made so angry as i thought Mental health awareness was getting better and still not so stigmatized in workplaces bu sadly i was wrong.

so my question for everyone is what do you say or do when you need that day off for mental health, do we need to go backwards and make an excuse of an illness just so we will not judged. I work as a nurse and absolutely love it, but feel so let down in the one industry i hoped would be more understanding of mental illness.

Jess

[ZiggOh]

Hi Jess,

So sorry your workplace doesn't seem very helpful with your mental health issues at all!

As you say you are a Nurse, I would look contact the nursing and midwifery hotline and see what your rights are within you field regarding discrimination acts e.g. what your rights are for someone who has a mental health disability and how your workplace should be supporting you with this. I think maybe this one person you have spoken to may have their own opinions which may not coincide with the actual rights you have so take a look 🙂

[Croix]

Dear Jess~

I think ZiggOh is right in saying firstly you should know what your rights are, and that your supervisor is just one person.There my be more support in your organization than you are aware of.

I would however say firstly that you have not said if the job is in fact making things worse for you, or if you would feel much the same whatever you were doing. What do you think?

Can I ask if you have discussed how you are feeling and the days you need to regroup with your doctor or therapist? I've found I need that sort of perspective as I'm poor at assessing myself. Also of course do you have family or friends to be with who care and would support you? Not trying to cope in isolation is a big thing.

I've found taking days off when feeling very down has not been all that helpful - maybe that is just me. There is a relief in knowing one does not have to face things, but that in my case that tended to fade throughout the day and worry about going back would take over. Then the hassles of the missed days took their toll too. True I was not in a nursing, but another responder service.

Do you think things are sustainable for you as things stand with the occasional MH day?

Croix

[DannyG]

hi Jess

i agree with Zigg-Oh you should definitely find out what your rights and entitlements are. Perhaps you can talk to someone else (sounds like your boss is not at all understanding) perhaps someone else on a management level?

My other suggestion is Try and find out if there is a possibility that you can roster your shifts:hours in a certain way so that you have extra days off, perhaps one or two a month. Suggest that they be days of unpaid leave or something similar.

you don’t have to state outright that you are needing a mental health day if you feel that it will not be accepted in a sympathetic way. For instance you could say you have other commitments that mean you need an extra day or two off and I don’t think you have to elaborate on that if you don’t feel comfortable.

in my experience, mental health is not supported or accepted in the workplace. Many employers ‘talk the talk’ as it were but when it comes to actually helping employees, or making small allowances like just needing a mental health day, then the support is not there. The other reaction I’ve gotten is they employer seems to be understanding then I get made reundant. I don’t want you to feel discouraged- this is just my experience.

best, D

[baet123]

Hey Jess,
Welcome to the forums and it is great to have you here.
Big respect to you for what you do day in, day out as a nurse. If I didn't choose social work, I would probably have been a nurse. I guess we both share a passion for helping people in common I am sure amongst many other interests.
I would also have thought that your boss would be more compassionate considering the field you are in. I think Zig and Danny have made a good point regarding knowing your rights as a worker. As an employee you are protected from discrimination based on mental health conditions under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 which is a Commonwealth Consolidated Act. This piece of legislation protects someone with a mental illness from discrimination during all aspects of employment, such as stages recruitment, negotiations around pay rates and work hours, and in instances of termination or redundancy. I would even consider obtaining legal advice from a legal aid or a private solicitor (initial consultation should be free) and just see what your options and rights are legally. Although you probably don't want to make a big fuss about it knowledge is power and knowing what your rights are as a worker is extremely important.

It is a shame but you would think being in the nursing industry that your boss would show more compassion like you said.

May I ask what you do for your own self-care? Does your workplace have any procedures in-place? Does your team debrief regularly? Maybe developing a self-care plan could be something worth thinking about.

I look forward to hearing back from you.

Hope this helped.

All the best,

Baet123