to feel quite shocked that DH has PTSD from teaching?

[FunnysInLaJardin]

Its feels pretty awful tbh. He has just today received this diagnosis and has been referred for priority EMDR.

He has taught for 25 years in a secondary school, and got out last year due to clinically diagnosed burn out.

I knew it was bad, but I never realised it was this bad.

How can this be allowed to happen?

"Why don't teachers speak out about this?" Because when we do we get accused of being workshy lazy gits who don't care about the children and wouldn't last two minutes in a real job. See also comments like: Of course, I am going to be flamed by the large amount of teachers on here who are insistent that they have the toughest job in the world though…… No teacher EVER said it's the toughest job in the world, yet people do like hurling that accusation around.

"Why don't they just resign if it's so bad?" Because we also have bills to pay, children to feed and mortgages / rent that demand payment. A teacher has to give a very large notice period so almost always resigns with no job to go to. The bills don't care and still want paying for the month/s it takes to get a different job. Also, society (and years of micromanagement, OFSTED, deep dives and all the rest of the school improvement activity which generally ignores what's going well and instead searches out anything less than perfect and presents us with a long list of criticisms) has done a bloody good job of gaslighting us into thinking we're no good at anything else. Self-worth is in the drain for many teachers.

I thought it was a ridiculous rule as well. Fine for senior management sitting in their offices making the rules, but frontline staff suffered life changing injuries in that place.

But I'm sure you would be capable of working in mcdonalds or retail or any of them types of jobs yes it would be a paycut and obviously less holidays but surely your health is more important I just don't understand why adults are choosing to be miserable I'd rather live in a tiny house and buy clothes in charity shops and by non branded food then have a mental breakdown, ptsd, depression ect. Mental health has destroyed mine and my kids lives I prioritise health and happiness over everything

Every word 💯, well said. Unfortunately from Y7 onwards the behaviour only gets worse, far worse.

Thanks for all of your support and good wishes, I am sad to see how prevalent it is and I am so sorry for all of the other families going through this.

I wont respond to the questions up thread as the rest of you have done an excellent job putting others straight about the realities of teaching.

I also don't intend to explain how DH received his diagnosis, suffice to say we are not in the UK and the person was a qualified professional.

Thanks again, your support really does mean a very great deal

really?

We get slated if we leave (remember the thread slating the teacher who dared to leave when she had an exam class?)

We get slated if we stay (how could you not sell your house and all your possessions so you can get by working in McDonalds?)

We get slated when we try to tell people about what's going on in schools and to teachers (teachers are ALWAYS moaning, think they have the HARDEST job in the world)

We get slated when people don't know what is going on in schools (why haven't teachers spoken up about this??)

We get slated when we go on strike (GREEDY)

We get slated when we don't go on strike (teachers just let the government get away with what they are doing to schools, why aren't they doing more/speaking up/taking action).

We are constantly moaned at because schools are too strict, enforce rules and exclude kids. Then when people watch those same kids who kick off at school rioting in the streets they look to schools to solve the problem.

With what?? Schools have NOTHING left in the tank. We can't even perform our supposedly primary purpose of teaching kids the basics because we don't have the teachers left to do it. And whatever we do, it will be wrong and ripped to shreds, both in the media on here.

It’s not a state v private issue.
I was burned out by excessive workload and bullying management in an independent school. I’m sure it’s much nicer for the children to be in smaller groups with other children of similar backgrounds, but it isn’t nicer for the teachers - demands from both parents and management are much more strident (and often unrealistic) and bad behaviour still happens. Don’t try to make it about private schools and VAT.

I taught in a secondary school for only a year and this doesn’t surprise me at all. There’s a reason I never went back to teaching after having my son.

I don't know why your saying really? I'm replying to someone who said they've been made to feel like they can't do anything else when they absolutely can. your husband is suffering with ptsd do you not realise how serious that is. Multiple people kill themselves everyday due to mental illness so yes I'd rather be poor and healthy then stay in a job that caused that level of illness. Mental illness is serious and ruins every part of your life and your families life. Most people have no control over their mental health as its either a chemical imbalance or caused by an issue outside of their control if a person is suffering due to something they can change then absolutely they should.

I could be wrong but my personal opinion is; it happened when certain professions started to be exposed for corruption and abuse etc. People started speaking out about their experiences then investigations made. Think positions of authority that people had blind respect for like the church, teaching, policing. Safeguarding happened but also the internet, where people can get their stories and accounts out there on a wider scale. A lot of people now go by the mantra that ‘you can’t trust anyone anymore’ respect is definitely earned etc.

"Schools have NOTHING left in the tank."

As always, Noble nails it.

I take your point and my DH did get out eventually.

But I'm sure you will agree that it is a sorry state of affairs when the people qualified to teach and passionate about teaching our children are encouraged to work in a low paid unskilled job because the conditions in their profession are so awful.

That has surely got to be wrong

Not surprised at all. Things are getting far worse in schools.

Last year I was sworn at, threatened with weapons, spat at, hit, kicked and punched almost everyday. This is in a primary school in a reasonably nice area. There’s just not the funding for the provision children with ALN need and we can only do so much in a mainstream before it all comes crumbling down.

It’s going to happen to more and more teachers unfortunately!

But it's like that in any job. Not every job is suited to every person and if your not coping to the point your mh is severely effected you need to get out. Nobody is saying you have to be a cleaner or work in mcdonalds for life but it's a job why you retrain/ go back to uni for something else.

Not surprised at all. Still teaching but trying to get out. Sending all my best wishes to your Dh, hope he heals from this.

I don't think you get it. A teacher can love his/her job and be excellent at it but poor management and lack of funding can make the task impossible. The most implicated teachers get burnt out because it's impossible to make a good job for anyone. So those who stay will be the ones who are not invested and don't really care about the pupils or their education. Because all the invested, excellent teachers ought to be flipping burgers instead of creating decent working conditions in our schools?

It’s not to do with the calibre of pupil… it’s to do with additional volumes of pupils and not enough resources to deal with it. Even if the nicest class of children, extra numbers mean additional stress and demand on that teacher.

Schools have a maximum number of students. They won’t exceed it, as @cantkeepawayforever has said in her post. Extra pupils (if there are any/many which I still doubt) will be placed in schools which are undersubscribed, thus not causing stress, in fact bringing in much needed extra money.

I don't know a single teacher who is remotely worried about an 'influx of kids from private schools.' It just isn't even on the radar.

But that's not the teachers problem no individual is responsible for a whole industry. The only responsibility any individual has is the welfare of themselves and their families. My mh meant iv been sectioned multiple times and my children where put in care for a short period of time unfortunately my mh issues where not caused by something I had any control over but if they had been the first thing I would of done would of been to leave to protect myself and my family. The bottom line is it's job your a number you die tomorrow you will be replaced the day after don't make yourself ill over it.

I do agree with you. No job is worth more than your MH. I am sorry for your experiences. I just reacted on the phrase that "not every job is suited to every person" implying that OP's DH was not suited to be teaching. When in fact it is the most suited teachers who love their work and have high standards who are likely to suffer. Not because they are not suited but because they are being set up to fail by the system which makes them work even harder until one day they have nothing more to give. To anyone. They are burnt out. And I have witnessed this happening to the most dedicated professionnals in social work, health and education. It's such a tragedy.

Name changed for this!
Me too, I had to leave in 2022 and am currently about to start High Intensity Psychological Therapy for PTSD as well as being on 2 lots of meds.

It very nearly broke me and I have been prescribed diazepam too at times. I was a teacher for 25 years, loved my job, but with academisation everything changed and Schools have become toxic to the core. Poor unchallenged pupil behaviour combined with if you are on the top of your pay scale a target is on your back. I was subjected to the most horrendous bullying by management, I cannot say too much here but the children went unchallenged and their behaviours encouraged when it was aimed towards myself as management wanted me out. Combined with micromanagement, giving me subjects to teach I wasn't qualified for.

It got to the stage where I cried on my way to School very unlike me, and other staff keen it wasn't directed at them stayed silent, acknowledging to me they knew what was going on but refusing to do anything about it.

years later I still have the awful nightmares and flashbacks, my life will never be the same again, Never thought I would be on medication or in therapy. Sadly many teachers are heading the same way, hence the recruitment crisis, why would you put yourself through it. Unreasonable targets and accountability, bullying inexperienced SLT, acadamisation has created this toxicity. I used to love my job. I don't think parents realise what exactly goes on in Schools and the total disregard for wellbeing.

No, it doesn’t really work like that, because a full school does not have to give a child a place (except under very specific circumstances - the child has an EHCP naming the school; the parent wins an appeal against refusal to grant a place (and a genuinely full school will usually win an appeal because the disadvantage to them of admitting extra pupils is greater than the disadvantage to the pupil of not having a place in that particular school); the school is directed to take the child under FAP, which only comes into play where absolutely no local schools have any places at all).

So there are basically 3 scenarios for a teacher:

• The school is full. Their class is already 30 and does not change.
• The school is not quite full. A few extra, middle ability compliant pupils with supportive parents are admitted, so the class moves from say 27 to 30 and workload remains very similar. The stressful scenario of working in a school with spaces and thus being directed to take eg managed moves; new refugees; previously excluded pupils etc is removed and this can be a net benefit.
• The school is very undersubscribed and any number of middle ability, compliant pupils with supportive parents are admitted. This is a big win for the teacher and the school as per pupil funding makes providing for everyone that much easier. Such schools often have high levels of SEN but the arrival of new non-SEN pupils brings much needed funding and a critical mass of low needs pupils who may well improve the results and thus the reputation of the school, building better pupil numbers over time.

In none of these scenarios do teachers lose sleep over the arrival of private school pupils!

Sadly sounds like a very similar situation to DH.

He left at the start of 2023 and thought getting out of the toxic culture would mend the damage.

It hasn't and he is still very badly scarred.

I hope your therapy is successful

As someone said up thread, he will never teach again and in fact the thing that caused his final crash a month or two ago was being asked to do some adult training courses. He thought he could do it, but it was too triggering for him