Being signed of with stress

[Plump82]

I'm really struggling with work and feel I'm getting close to breaking point. I'm considering completing a self cert for a week to give me some breathing space. If I feel I need longer at what point should I be speaking to my doctor?

Please take this as kindly as it is intended…

Having done been in your shoes, my advice would be to think carefully about what a week of breathing space is going to achieve? What are you struggling with - is it the actual work, the people or something else? If it’s the work, is there someone you can speak to for help? What I’m trying to get at is I’m never sure how helpful being signed off is without some sort of ‘plan of action’, no matter how loose, to begin to identify and resolve the stress?

In my case, the cause was a person and their behaviour towards me, so I got signed off as I was at my wits end - but I spoke to HR about it and also spoke to our employee support about what they could do to help. I was off for about 6 weeks while HR did their thing and I got counselling arranged by employee support, so I went back better equipped mentally to deal with things.

I hope things improve for you soon.

Thanks for your reply. At the moment it's a bit of both. Work load/tasks/asks and the person it's coming from.

I've highlighted my issues with my direct manager and he has put things in place to support me but there's only so much he can do. The department I work in is under a huge amount of pressure and this manager is obviously under a huge amount of stress but he's 2 levels above me and asking for a lot more than I can do, plus it's only me who does my role so I can't get help.

Do you think you could have another chat and say you’re on the brink of going off with stress if things don’t change? To convey to them the seriousness of the situation? If you are the only person doing the job then that gives you a bit of leverage as having you there doing less work is better than you not being there and nothing getting done.

It’s awful because the stress means it’s hard to see a way forward, but it’s worth trying to find one before going off.

FYI, in my case, the long term solution was to move jobs. Moving on to a ‘normal’ working environment was transformative!

I have just done this. Self certificated for a week, with support from my manager, but then another two weeks from GP.
Obviously something needs to change but in my case it was that some home difficulties needed to be dealt with that couldn’t be while I was at work. So although the stress was effecting my work, it wasn’t particularly caused by it.
I am also using the time to think about some changes at work so that I can manage home and work.
One week is unlikely to be enough as it takes a while to stop worrying about it in order to get better.

In the new year I'm absolutely looking for a new job which is a shame because I've been with this company for 18 years but I just can't see me being able to work the way the department is being run now. I do think 1 week off won't be enough but i dont know whether my doctor will be willing to sign me off longer?

I didn’t even see my GP. Sent an e-consult explaining in a couple of lines the combination of factors, that I believed it was stress and not depression and that I would contact again if I felt it was getting worse or no better. Got a text reply with an attached note.

I just spoke to my GP there and they were more than happy to sign me off for a couple of week or, self cert and then i can call them back for them to then sign me off.
I have a meeting with my manager at 12 to discuss.

Good luck. Sounds like the right thing for you.

Good luck - I hope your chat with your manager goes well.

And to you @parrotonmyshoulder, sounds like you have a good manager who is supporting you, which is helpful.

Well it didn't really go as I hoped. He seemed to think the main issue was workload which it is but that's only a small part of it. And i felt he was trying to talk me out of going off.