To feel like going on the sick

[pinkyponk67]

I suffer from chronic anxiety and have been to the GP, she has referred me for CBT and offered me antidepressants, but I just feel like walking out of the office right now and going home. I am waking up in the night worrying about work and constantly feeling sick.

I have just received a bollocking via email for something that was not my fault, by a senior manager (not someone in my "chain of command") and been summoned to a meeting about it today. No doubt I will have to suck up some more crap and not be allowed to have my say. I have put a lot of effort into this project which is something that I do not enjoy doing, but was asked to do so gave it my best shot. I have got a couple of presentations to do in the next couple of weeks which I hate doing and always make me nervous, they are on a subject that again is not my core strength.

This (professional type) job has not turned out the way I thought it would, the last few years have been really boring and frustrating. I work in a big organisation and spend way too much time battling with other internal departments and IT systems. I need the money or I would have told them where to stick it already.

so you want to go on the sick to avoid presentations you dont like giving, a meeting over a work fuck up of some sort and because in general job didnt work out the way you thought it would.

i am sorry you suffer from anxiety but are you using that as a reason to go on sick from a job that you just seem to dislike or are you genuinely not fit for work because of your illness.

it seems like something definitely needs to change for you in order to feel happier. life is too short to stay in a job that you absolutely hate.

having said that, going on the sick will not help you in the long term, and may make your work related anxiety worse in the short term as you will be worried about returning to work after a period of absence.

you might find that if you start planning a future without this job, you will feel better about it - the thought that you won't be doing it forever that is.

is there someone you can talk to about this at work?

A bit harsh Adamit!

Pinky - take the ADs. You're caught up in a spiral and until one bit of the spiral is better you won't be able to think logically about what to do with the rest of it.

I think you need to reappraise why you're doing the job you're doing. You say you've been there for years frustrated and bored. If its a big org can you not transfer to another dept?

If the cock-up is not your fault you should stand your ground and deflect the blame on to whoever is responsible. Speak to your line manager, get his/her support. Then communicate with your LM to get what exactly your remit is in black and white re your role and responsibilities within the company. As is with most things, a lack of communication is at fault here.

I know what it's like to suffer anxiety; I managed to get through it with family support and giving myself many good talkings to because it seemed to me that I was making things so out of proportion I couldn't see the wood for the trees.

Once this latest crisis is out of the way start looking for another job, either within the co or elsewhere. You have some years experience by the sounds of it, so dress it up to match what other cos are looking for. There is light at the end of the tunnel and you will get through this.

Teeny

I think you do need to start looking for another job.

Your unhappiness in this one sounds intractable, and is now making you ill. If you don't get away, you will find yourself on the downwards spiral of blaming others etc, and that will make everything worse.

I would try to stay at work, and you may find it easier to do so once you are planning a future elsewhere and actively taking steps to make it happen.

listen .. i know it prob sounded harsh but believe me am well schooled on anxiety and depression, suffering with and living with it, meds the works.

i just get the impression that its more that the OP just doesnt like the job anymore and couldnt be arsed. take out the pending meeting and presentations what else has she said she finds difficult? i am basing my reply on the OP given. her job is "boring" and "frustrating" not that she feel she cant get out of bed in the morning, cant concentrate and is making mistakes in work etc.

i dont mean to attack OP but believe me someone who has suffered depression ... some time off work can help for the short term ... but long tern sick and just burying the head in the duvet does no good.

talk it out with someone professionally ... not sure how things work there but in ireland you HAVE to attend psych if prescribed meds. go see someone and talk things out. good luck.

and dont pack in your job just yet ... think of the long term and how you will financially survive.

Adamit - what's your point?

It sounds like you need another job, not to go on the sick because this one isn't working for you. I have been getting anxiety/panic attacks for the last 7 years. I struggled to get to work, it was awful. I had my DS nearly 5 years ago and me and DH decided that I would be a SAHM. Financially it wasn't worth me working and I did want to be at home with my baby.

However, it was, mentally, the biggest mistake I made. I didn't have to go anywhere and because I didn't have to work through the anxiety it got worse. I have now been agoraphobic for the last couple of years and it is depressing and soul destroying. If I could do my time again, I would continue to work to give myself a 'can't talk myself out of it' reason to get out and get on with it.

By all means look for different employment, but please don't walk out and sign on.

my point is talk to a counsellor or whomever your GP referred you to. discuss whether meds is the route to go. dont pack in your job just yet ... take a break if you feel you really need it but try and avoid signing on long term sick or look for other work.

thought i was pretty clear.

Back from the meeting now. The main fault has been acknowledged to be someone else's problem but I have also been castigated for (genuinely) not realising that person was not on the level.

Dolallytats I feel for you, I think my anxiety may just find somewhere else to go if I wasnt at work. Saying that, my happiest time recently was when I was on ML, but had to go back to work for financial reasons.

I just feel like I am wading through treacle.

This is more than not liking my job, I have major concentration/memory problems, disturbed sleep, and repetitive/obsessive thoughts among other symptoms. But the job is a real problem, the market for the services we offer has all but dried up recently and I am not given the resources I need to do the job properly. Colleagues I rely on to do tasks do not reply to phone/email messages and don't do work they are meant to. Would anybody notice the difference if I wasnt here, as I feel its almost impossible to do the job I was hired for.

But I am lucky to be earning good money in a part-time role and nothing has come up that I could afford to move to.

I would definitely advise ADs as a way to lift your mood enough to be able to think a bit more clearly and cope a bit better with the day-to-day routine.

Couple this with CBT and you will get the long-term coping mechanisms you need.

You can then make plans for your future, when you are in a better place mentally.

Good luck - I have been in your position and come through the other side.