Off work with stress

[Kareharding]

And I feel guilty... Work for a small business and I know others will have to do more as a result. I’ve been there just over a year but it’s been a difficult readjustment post covid! I’ve never had to do this before in my career btw.

Any words of wisdom or kindness?

You wouldn't feel guilty if you were off with 2 broken arms, your mental health is just as important.
I think the past 2 years lots of people have had time off with stress as it's not been a normal time.
Are you off until Christmas now? Use the time to relax. The more guilty you feel the longer it will take you to recover.
You've been there a year and have a good sickness record previously so I really wouldn't worry.

Just that you've done the right thing. I've just gone back to work after 4 months due to stress, and the time off has helped enormously.

What exactly are you finding difficult to adjust to? - not being argumentative but if you can pin down what you're finding difficult then maybe you can come up with a solution?
Also is being off not making things worse, you're not going to manage your issues if you're at home.

Difficult to adjust to society suddenly functioning again and big crowds etc. I lived on my own for a lot of the pandemic and finding this very overwhelming despite not having social issues before.

Small things were making me very teary and stress was making everything worse. I’m getting therapy and on meds, trying to see friends etc as much as possible to get myself back into socialising again and build my support network back up which is going great.

Job can be high stress and things just for overwhelming, I was throwing myself into it without any regards for my mental health and felt like I was on the verge of a breakdown tbh

Is your GP supportive?
This doesn't sound like that much work stress? Sounds like you have anxiety outside of work?

Can you work from home to relieve some of the burden from your colleagues and also give yourself a sense of purpose? Even just a few hours a week?

Take your time, rest and allow your system to reset. While it may not be work stress directly (only you will know), very often work is the only commitment that can quickly be reduced or removed by taking sick leave, which gives you some space to attend to yourself. Try not to you make yourself busy doing “healthy” things - you really do need to rest and let your nervous system settle and your hormone levels even out, then some social activities etc will help. Most people make the mistake of stopping work but keeping on the go. Just stop as much as you can, it truly will help.