To go out whilst on sick leave?

[beetroot13]

I'm currently on sick leave at work, I've been off nearly a week and I'm off for another week & a half. The sick leave is due to stress and anxiety and depression after I've had 4 miscarriages in the last year. I thought I was dealing with it all well until suddenly I wasn't & ended up having a bit of a breakdown and needing time off work, I'm hoping to get back onto antidepressants next week (calling gp) I hadn't left the house for a few days until today where me and DH went for a lovely walk up a country park as had beautiful sunshine for the first time in ages, the whole time I was worried someone would see me 😦 I need to pop to town in the week for food bits & a Mother's Day card, then on Mother's Day we are going out for a meal.

AIBU to go out when on sick for these reasons? Or am I suppose to stay in? Can I get in trouble with work if someone sees me out?

It’s fine to go out in this circumstance. You’re off for anxiety and stress, not a contagious disease. It will likely be good for your recovery to go out and so you should do it and not feel guilty.

You're signed off for stress, anxiety and depression.
Getting fresh air and moving your body are things that are good for all of those things.

I understand why you feel as you do though because we all know some colleagues will be quick to gossip when they don't know the facts. Don't worry though, it's not like you're running a marathon whilst signed off for a leg injury.

You’re unfit for work, not unfit for general life. Being outside and getting on with normal things would be all things your GP would recommend I expect. Don't give it a second thought.

It's a very old fashioned view that people on sick leave shouldn't leave the house.

You've had a terrible time, and you need space to recover, any reasonable manager would prefer that you get out and about if that will aid your recovery.

I'm very sorry for your losses, take the time you need, and do the things that you need, to get better

Yes you can go out. Even if you had a cold you could go out because you might need medication or just to get some fresh air.

Given the reasons you’re signed off sick for i think that’s ok. I was signed off sick after surgery and I went out for walks and lunch and even to the gym the last couple of days, you can’t go from sitting on a sofa to full time work without some sort of stepping stones to getting back to normal and it’s not good for your mental health to be stuck indoors all day.

When I was off work with stress and depression, my doctor told me that I needed to go out for a walk every day and push myself to do other things too whether that was shopping or going to the library or an exercise class or whatever. It's part of the treatment

Absolutely fine. Your mental health isn’t going to get better shutting yourself away. Fresh air and exercise are what helps.

Same!

Please keep on going out!! It nurtures the soul. Especially when you are sick with stress!

It's so important for mental health, not to be cooped up inside.

Hope you are feeling better soon OP 🌼

Yes you're allowed to go out and participate in leisure activities. Take the time for yourself.

It's perfectly fine, you are allowed to go out.

Say it again - you are allowed to go out!

Even if you had a broken leg
Or D&V
Or a migraine
Or well, anything else I can think of tbh

You are allowed to go out.

(though if your contagious, stay in, ta lol)

This.

I was signed off for 6 weeks once with stress and anxiety after a whole heap of crap came my way.

I spoke to my GP about this exact issue and she said that I should go out as often a I felt able. Meet friends for lunch, nights out, go to a gig. Anything that would be good for my mental health.

It was when people supposedly had a football injury and were seen out clubbing that they got in trouble. Sunshine is a wonderful thing for anxiety and no one should question that. Even if someone saw you out and about and said "oh saw you down the park!!" you could just replay "yes first time I've been able to get out of the house in days"

I'm sorry for your losses. It is 100% ok to go out in these circumstances. Best of luck for the healing x

We went to the Canaries for two weeks when DH was signed off with stress. He was actually off for 3 months due to harassment and bullying and he was nervous too that he’d get into trouble for going abroad.

He spoke to the HR lady for advice, who was very reassuring and actually wished him a lovely holiday. It did him the world of good and built up his strength for job interviews so he could change teams when he returned to work.