Work making me ill

[Biscuitlover456]

Hi all - looking for some help/experiences.

My workload at the moment is completely unsustainable and I am now starting to feel myself burning out. I can’t sleep properly, have digestion issues, migraines, skin problems, crying lots more than usual and having some dark thoughts.

Line manager and HR know my workload is unsustainable, I have raised this consistently since autumn last year - due to a department restructure for someone else’s mat leave there will be a new person joining (an FT role whose only job is covering half my workload, which indicates how crazy my job is at the moment) but then the person going on mat leave will obviously bring me back to square one with not enough support and too much work to cover. I have discussed adjustments with manager/HR on several occasions but aside from others picking up one or two small areas of work I still have no real change in the overall picture and finish most weeks feeling destroyed.

I am usually a really organised and motivated person but things are grinding to a halt right now, I can’t do basic things and keep leaving stuff which I know needs looking at but just can’t get into the headspace to do anything. The quality of my work is suffering and I hate not only feeling awful but also feeling like I am performing badly. I have lost a lot of confidence.

Looking for advice/help please from others who have been in this situation before - is leaving my only option? Should I go off sick? Try talking to manager again? Any words of wisdom gratefully received

@Biscuitlover456 Just wondering if there was a happy ending to your story?

If you feel that you can't take much more and aren't being listened to, you have 2 choices: continue as you are until eventually your work related anxiety results in a full on panic attack in the office or seek help in the form of your GP signing you off for a few weeks to find your sanity again. Don't sacrifice your health for a job - soon you'll be so ill that you won't have the mental strength to apply for other jobs, never mind go to interviews. Take time off, try to reach a good mental balance and forward plan. If they cared, they'd have listened to you and put reasonable adjustments in place. Good luck.

Yes! Well, sort of - I found another job thankfully, which has itself had challenges, but I feel in a much better place to cope with them. I have made an effort to really focus on the parts I enjoy and find rewarding, and to try and let go of doing it all. If there are tasks that don’t get completed, then so be it - it’s my manager’s job to look at workloads and ensure tasks are distributed evenly across the team. I also now trust my instincts more - if I sense the company is trying to wangle more work out of
me or put something else on my plate, I’m strict about not saying yes without something else being put aside. I like my colleagues and have a better connection with them than in the other place. Generally things have been good!

To anyone whose work is making them unwell - please prioritise your health! That is truly valuable. Ultimately without your health it
doesn’t matter how many KPIs you hit :-)

Glad to hear you're happier in your new job! I'm in the same situation and had been following your thread, I just need to have the courage to hand in my notice. Ten years ago I wouldn't have hesitated in leaving but now I'm in my late 50s I wonder how hard it will be to find another position.

Thanks for the update @Biscuitlover456 and good to hear that things have worked out well for you.

I'm definately leaving my job next year, the project is ending in Autumn 2024 anyway but I'm hoping to have found something well before that.

I could have wrote your post. 33 years in a jobs I've loved in the NHS and now I feel utterly inadequate and unable to function.

I wrote on this thread 8 months ago in a similar situation! Had left an NHS career in the previous years for generally very NHS reasons so feeling like I was the common denominator.

Have been in a new role a while now. Miles better. Feel normal. Bizarrely new coworkers are unhappy, not me.

I suppose my only regret is sitting around dwelling on what was wrong with me that meant I found the job so hard. You can't really compare yourself to others experiences even in the same company/team. No point in trying. Just take care of number 1.

And the job I posted about in March got way worse before I left -so bad that it became obvious the company had serious problems. I was lucky to get that closure before leaving.