My work colleague is a lovely guy and I generally get on really well with him. He's suffered with depression in the past and been signed off sick quite a lot, so the rest of us have had to pick up his work a lot. There have also been a lot of days when he's not come in due to pretty minor things, like a sore throad, but I know that depression can be hard to deal with and make you feel more run down than you are.
Anyway, he's had CBT and his depression (by his own admission) has improved immensely. We were recently really busy at work and he ended up getting himself signed off with stress for 3 weeks. Fair enough, the last thing I want is him getting depressed again.
But I just spoke to him and he told me he went clubbing and to a party on Saturday night, took a lot of class A drugs and didn't get any sleep. He's off sick still this week.
So, my question is this - is he taking the piss a bit, or is this his way of coping with stress etc, so he needs more understanding.
I'm sort of undecided at the monent because I know his depression can be really hard for him.