OMG just been signed off for 2 weeks with Emotional Exhaustion

[SpinningEm]

And I feel crap. Life has been getting too much & I'm not the person to say no to anything. I work 25hrs a week, am doing a NVQ, run my own training business and have 3 small girls. Yes mad I know but thought I could cope. Went to docs yesterday & broke down. He's given me some tablets & signed me off for 2 weeks - it makes me feel such a fraud though, am convinced people think I'm lazy & am skiving as I'm physically ill. Mentally though I am exhausted, don't know if I'm coming or going & am losing my memory. My main concern is the effect I'm having on my girls - at the moment I'm finding it hard to even be in the same room as them as I just can't bear any noise. God I'm crap.

hi em
please dont beat your self up about it
you will find lots of support here
how old are your girls?
have you got a dh ?
try to get some time to your self to relax,i know its easier said than done,shut your self in the bathroom and have a hot bath with some lavender oil in it and maybe read a good book ,just to try and escape from everything.
i know what you mean about wanting peace and quite at my worst i was doing all i could to avoid my kids ( 3of them) ,going out for long walks ,shutting myself in my bedroom and eating upstairs away from them.
just remember it wont always be like this ,there is light at the end of the tunnel.

You're not crap. This has happened to me - signed off work for two weeks when I really didn't want to be signed off but was too emotionally exhausted to realise it. Doctor said I had gotten too far to do anything about it and needed the two weeks to 'refuel' Said if I was able to do anything I would have done it already.
I had the same feelings about being lazy but please remember that two weeks (and more if you need more) is not a great deal of time and generally people have themselves on their minds, rather than dwelling on reasons for your absence.
Consider your sick note as being told you are unfit to work. Imagine if you made mistakes at work through not being well? You need time to recover. Use it to think about your priorities and how best to manage your time.
Take care of yourself - it sounds like you need to.

Whoops meant to say am NOT phsically ill!!

being mantally ill is sometimes worse because no one can see it !

Thanks guys for your replies, my girls are 2,5 & 8 & dh is v.supportive but works 12 hour shifts so is never there to help with the evening chores. Just feel like I want to go to bed & sleep forever - do not feel suicical but just cannot face the world & people

Take the two weeks to try and chill out and get some me-time without feeling as if you should be doing something else

I've been in this position myself and it did help - once I got over the shock of unexpectedly finding myself in this position - thought it only ever happened to other people!

I caught up with stuff I'd meant to do for years (sorting photos etc) had long baths, did internet shopping and so on - also will mean you are better able to deal with the DCs as you will feel refreshed instead of hassled from being at work - for me it also meant I could get them from the school gate instead of child minder too(should also improve things with DH as you'll feel less frazzled)

Do try to go back fairly soon - it might get harder if you leave it too long - once I'd stoppped panicking and managed to calm down I realised that I do really need the structure of work - although everyone's different

good luck!

Thanks Bluejeans

SpinningEm, how are you feeling now after a couple of days off - are things with your DDs any easier? Have you been able to get a break from your other commitments?

I had the same situation at the beginning of the year. I felt terribly guilty initially, but gradually chilled out. It really did do me the world of good.

Hello again - I'm feeling slighty better now thanks but still feel very fragile if that makes sense. I've got a meeting tomorrow with my boss to hopefully talk about reducing my hours, am dreading it.