Holidays/festivals whilst on the sick

[Twinklingterapin]

A few colleagues of mine (I work in a school) have been long term sick with mental health, however they have regularly been posting their lives on social media. Ranging from mental health walks, allotment days, coffee dates with friends and even holidays abroad, all whilst off sick. Dont get me wrong i wouldnt expect people to stay inside all day or become a recluse, however I do think there should be a line. The latest has really boiled my blood, seeing posts of a colleague at Download, posing with his friends, and saying how good it is for his mental health.

Surely I cant be the only one to think this is too far? You shouldn't be able to be off on the sick from work but still go festival.

How awful. I suffer with various mental health based illnesses, currently no longer working, and feeling trapped brings the symptoms on. One of the illnesses being agoraphobic in nature.

That sounds like you are under house arrest.

I have a member of staff off on extended sick leave because of his mental health. It is costing me quite a lot to cover his post while he is off. However, when I spoke to him last week, I encouraged him to go on the holiday that he had already planned for next week prior to his sickness. I hope it will do him good and help to facilitate his recovery. I can't see that moping around at home is going to help.

I know of someone who was off sick for mental health reasons. They felt that if they went out, and people saw them, that people would think they were well enough to be back at work.

There were times when they had no choice but to go out, and the people they bumped into didn't judge as they thought. They all saw going out of the house, and doing every day things, such as shopping, gardening, a meal etc as a positive step to feeling better.

I was told by a GP the benefit of walks and exercise on mental health. I also know of health boards that have put booklets together suggesting places to walk and things to do, specifically with mental health in mind.

I persinally have taken leave/been on holiday before, because I felt I needed it for my mental health. I knew I needed time to do things for me, and my mental health benefitted as a result. Neither time did I feel the need to be off sick, but if I hadn't put myself first and taken that time then that could have been the result. If others had felt how I did, I may have suggested they take time off sick.
If I knew of someone off ill for mental health reasons , and they had gone on holiday I would probably see it as them getting rest/relaxation, they needed. A festival, I may/may not feel the same way, but it is still a way people telex and enjoy themselves, which has positive benefits.

You have said you work in a school, but we don't know the job of the person in question. Being well enough to take part in normal leisure activities, is totally different to being well enough to be responsible for 20 + children at one time.

There will always be people that play the system, but i wouldn't assume that to be the case. Maybe I wouldn't be posting on social media what i was doing, but if they are not doing anything wrong, then they probably don't see wht they shouldn't.

When my husband was off sick for almost six months after major, major surgery with complications he went out for walks - long walks with a coffee shop in the middle - most days after the first 6 weeks back at home. Regaining his fitness was essential. There was no way he could have worked though - after a couple of hours out in the morning he would sleep most of the afternoon, and he was quite mentally traumatised by the whole thing too.

We went on a week’s holiday a few weeks before he returned to work, and visited family a few times.

All totally encouraged by his boss.

Exactly.

A management problem. The sickness, the understaffing, the non management of employees who take advantage. All management problems.

Hating the individual and following their exploits on social media wont make a jot of difference to the OP's situation. OP has a management problem.

You're upset because your colleague, who is off sick because of poor mental health, is going on a walk specifically to improve their mental health?

Please can you show where I said this?

A walk and a 5 day festival with heavy drinking and countless social media posts are two very different scenarios in my opinion.

It was the latter that annoyed me, and more so the posting of it all over social media. It was a brief annoyance, that is of no importance in the grand scheme of things.

I was off sick with MH issues... and I was reported to my boss after being seen in a pub "smiling", and my boss hauled me up in a tribunal as they considered I was not "depressed enough" to be off sick because I was smiling in a pub with friends.
It got thrown out. I was an inpatient at the time, and my friends took me out to a pub for a change of scenery.

This is absolutely awful. I’m glad the tribunal (obviously) threw it out but how stressful for you.

Thanks. My old boss was an absolute knob.
I could have and should have got him fired for the way he treated me.

Oh the work police ..the worst kind of gossip.

Right here:

'Ranging from mental health walks'

My local NHS MH service, and also charity sector.. take people out on "MH walks"
It is good to get out and see people.

Very dim of them to post on social media.

A colleague of mine was on long term sick leave, but at least had the sense to go quiet on the fb posts.

Oh come on, you're clutching at straws.
OP clearly says I wouldn't expect people to stay inside all day or become a recluse, however I do think there should be a line"
...and then goes on to say that the posting of being at a rock festival has made her really cross.

OP never said it wasn't.

And that means I have a problem with it?

Taking a snippet of the full sentence to suit your own narrative and twist what actually was said.

It depends on your job. For some things you have to be on your feet for 8 hours. That doesn’t mean you aren’t well enough to go for a half hour walk. In some jobs you have to deal with people all day, but seeing a friend for coffee is fine.

I think this whole thread is you having a bitch about people off with MH issues.

It's the new norm.

Yeah, "on the sick" made me wince as well.

I was hauled into the manager’s office once because I’d gone home earlier that day with a migraine. I took my meds, had a sleep and felt much better. That evening we had to take the kids to an event so went for food whilst they were doing the event. DH took a photo and put it on FB. I was back at work the next day but someone took umbrage and complained to the manager.

I think their biggest mistake was to post on social media!

It’s also down to management to make sure there’s adequate cover and you aren’t left short.

However, I do agree with you there’s a line where it becomes taking the piss.

How so?

Your judgment at my words makes me wince. I did not realise I would be judged so much for my choice of non-offensive words. Where im from its just how people talk, no malice, just facts.

I’m off work currently with anxiety and PTSD caused by a number of incidents at work. One of the reasons I realised I was in such a poor place mentally was because I’d lost all interest in doing things that normally make me smile/relax - walking, meeting friends, going for coffee, shopping. Since being off I’ve tried really hard to make myself do those things again because otherwise it’s just a vicious circle of avoiding things that make me feel better, and then feeling even worse.