To think that counselling won't help?

[Itscurtainsforyou]

I'm off sick from work. I either can't cope with the level of work required by my boss. I can't afford to give up work but not currently sure what the alternatives are.

I think I'm struggling because I've had over 6 months of poor sleep (baby waking 3-4 times a night, sometimes for hours at a time - he has long term health issues so can't just let him cry). OH and I share responsibility for nights, have early nights etc but we're both on our knees as it's been going on for so long.

Gp suggested I have counselling. I don't object to it in principle and have agreed to go, but I'm not sure that it will help. The problem is simply that I'm exhausted - if the baby were to start sleeping through (once I'd had a few weeks to build up the sleep reserves, 1-2 decent nights doesn't help significantly) I'd probably cope a lot better.

We've tried a number of ways to schedule our lives so we manage everything, get some downtime, sleep etc, but it all boils down to not getting enough rest.

AIBU to think counselling will be a complete waste of time in this situation?

It's worth a go - at least it is on offer in your area!

What did you want from the GP then?

Especially if you are dealing with coming to term with long term health issues then yes counselling may actually help.

On the work side of things are the health issues of a level whereby you can claim DLA/carers to mean you can stop/reduce work?

It could help. Having an outlet to vent your worries and frustrations might help you get a better quality of sleep even if it can't change your other circumstances.

I've agreed to go, just not hopeful that it will help.

The gp suggested it when I went to her saying I couldn't cope so she signed me off work to get a breather.

The long term health issues are not new. We've always known about them. No longer qualifies for DLA as is better than before (which is good).

I'm very good at talking things through with OH (as we're both going through similar) and friends, so not sure what the counselling will do to help that I'm not already doing.

I'm in the same boat as you and have found counselling (just having a whole hour a week to gather my thoughts) really invaluable I'd say go for it. What's the worst that can happen?