Hello - very different to what most of us are worried about right now but I'm hoping someone can offer me some advice.
Last year I was off sick for a long time due to my mental health reasons. I initially went off for 3 weeks, and then came back into school as I was just completely overwhelmed with a feeling of guilt over being off sick. I was in for the week before the christmas holidays and the week after the christmas holidays. This was a completely terrible idea and I just did not cope at all, I had multiple panic attacks whilst teaching and SLT were very concerned. They were concerned (and rightly so to be honest) that there was a chance I would try to significantly harm myself whilst on the school site.
Anyway, I was then signed off work again. I eventually "returned" halfway through lockdown during May. So in total I was off for around four months.
To try and keep a long story short, since my return (and during my absence) I have felt very unhappy about the way I have been treated by SLT. They are claiming they want to be supportive, but they are completely ignoring my needs and wishes. I have received multiple emails that start with "We have been discussing what is best for you and this is what we have decided", and when I try to explain that the decisions they have made will be actively harmful for my mental health their response has been that they think they know better, and the fact that I disagree with them proves that I am still unwell.
To be clear, my mental health is now in a significantly better place and I'm nowhere near where I was in January. However, I am now in school, every day dealing with situations which are difficult and triggering for me, knowing full well that it could have been avoided if I had been listened to, or even if I had just been treated as a normal member of staff. I am struggling and I know I need to leave before this starts to have a long term effect on me.
My question is (sorry, got there eventually!) will the events of the last year affect my ability to get a new job? Specifically, what is my head likely to include on my reference? I am currently actively looking at jobs, but I don't want to get my hopes up if my chances of getting one are low because of my circumstances.