Mental health and lack of support from work

[Putthatonyourneedles]

I work in the health sector and i have long standing depression, PTSD from my dd3 birth in decemeber 2014 and anxiety.

I have got to the point at work where i am in major trouble due to my bradford score being really high as i have had a fair bit of time off due to one thing or another but mainly due to my mental health
I suppose the reason im posting is because i need some help now as im getting to the point where i could lose my job which i bloody love and am good at.
I was reading facebook when i saw one of the blog posts on Mnet that kinda struck home for me;
"It's time to talk because I was too ashamed to tell my employers that I was ill; and I would pretend to be physically ill because some days were too much to cope with mentally"

I suppose im just ranting but if i broke my leg and was off work for 6 weeks then nothing would be said other than 'get well soon' but because its not visible to the naked eye, i have good days and bad days and some horrendous days where i think the world would be better off with out me in it.

I think mental health is now part of the Disability Discrimination Act, making it unlawful to discriminate against someone because of their mental health. MIND might have some helpful advice too.

NanaNina is right: you've been suffering for so long that they are required, by law, to make reasonable adjustments for you to be able to do your job. Have you got an Occupational Health department you can ask HR to refer you to? (They won't necessarily be good- ours said I should stop being a perfectionish, and go to the gym every day )

Do your employers know why you are off, or do you also do the trick (pretty much my favourite, in all honesty) of "creating" a physical ailment? If so, be honest with them now - if you have been all along, then go straight to occupational health: tell HR you need to be referred so that your workplace can "make any appropriate reasonable adjustments". Like I said, ours is pretty useless (though a nice chap) but it made a point to HR, and also - frankly - has now made it a whole lot harder for them to get rid of me if they were thinking of doing so. I know it's probably the last thing you feel like facing atm, but if you are concerned about your job, it's so worthwhile doing, as it'll help take a weight off your mind.

Also - if you're not already, become a member of your union. If you are, give them a ring and talk to them - they'll be able to support you and they deal with this sort of thing all the time.

Hang in there - they can't sack you for suffering mental poor health, even if they think they can: and hope the good days start outweighing the bad ones.