Depression/Anxiety and working at the same time

[msedin]

Hi,
I've been experiencing high levels of depression and anxiety since December last year having gone through 2 similar cycles in the last 10 years. I didn't seek advice/help for this until March when I was given Citalopram and I'm awaiting a Psychiatrist appointment. I continued to go to work (bar 2 weeks when I was signed off, the true low point of my depression) fufil my job expectations and try my best to leave my problems at the door. I had a great and open relationship with my boss, we regularly met to discuss how I was and what I needed help with to get through my illness yet carry out my job.

Everything was going fine til I was told a week ago that I was being transferred and demoted as I was failing to meet my job expectations. I know this is probably off topic and I'm sorry, but has anyone else been met with this? Being penalised for being ill. Its always difficult to get across the nature of a mental illness, I understand that but I don't think my boss needs to know that every morning I consider killing myself, and that I cut myself just to distract myself from all the nonsense that is going through my head.

My therapist suggested I seek legal advice about whether I could be demoted but that seems a bit excessive.

Any suggestions anyone?

Thanks.

M

[ElizabethJane]

I'm sorry this has happened to you. I'm sure from a legal point of view they can't do this to you. There are plenty of people on here who will know the legal aspects and be able to help. You did well to continue working throughout all of this. About eighteen moths ago I had a serious relapse of anxiety and depression. I saw a new psychiatrist and was prescribed new drugs. Some days at work I was very teary but also drowsy from the drugs. I didn't want to take time off because I thought it would have been far harder to go back. I have an understanding boss who knew a little about what I was going through. He didn't demote me or tell me I couldn't work with the public anymore. If I were you I would seek some legal advice from the CAB. Years ago there used to be mental health advocates who would act on behalf of people with mental health problems. If there is such a scheme in Scotland I would seek somebody out now. Try to stay positive you have come this far. You are obviously talking to your therapist who might be able to offer some extra support? This is a serious blow. Perhaps the psychiatrist appointment could be brought foward? Take care Jane.

[suzy-sue]

Thats terrible! Im sorry but this sort of thing really p---es me off.Did your boss tell you in what way you werent meeting the expectations of the job? this should have been discussed before hand and you should have been given time to improve where you were failingbefore action was taken of this sort. Does your place of work have an HR manager or do you belong to a union or something who could assist you with this? I dont know a lot about these things but im sure this isnt right.This is all you need right now,you have my sympathy ,and i hope you can sort it out without a load of hassle..All the best Sue:hugs:

[Captain America]

i lost my job but here in my state it's a 'no fault' state so you can't sue for being fired for anything that doesn't fall under discrimination (race, handicap, etc.)
but in my case my job was really stressful and getting one that was less stressful actually helped in my recovery. i'm not saying it was right, but if i'd stayed in my old job i wouldn't be as far along as i am now.
silver linings i guess. sorry this happened to you.

[melody]

Hi,

I was fired for workplace injury after trying to return to old work duties for 2 years. I was demoted a month or two before they fired me. After a messy legal battle they had to pay compensation. In my case I know I was failing my duties due to health. They were nasty & not understanding. They did workplace harassment for 2 years, & then picked on me trying to say I was always mentally ill & my pain wasn't their fault (it was only in my head, not in my squashed disc in my spine at all apparently?). I think legal advice is a good idea. At least you will know where you stand & the first consultation should be free I think.Lawyers & unions are sensible problem solvers by the law.

When I went through it they always said stuff like "we'll take care of you through this injury" & would ask for complete honesty. Then they would back flip & expect me to hurt myself for them even though it went against their own agreement. Then they would say "why are you being so unreasonable. We provided you with reasonable duties & paid for your doctors" because on the books they had. I found them very dishonest & I lost faith & my safety & well being. They would ask me things & then use it against me later to discredit me. My workplace was only so nasty because they were self insured (very big company) so it would come out of the company pocket. I also made them look bad limping around being evidence that they injure their employees by expecting them to work 2 people's jobs so the could cut staff costs. It was never personal at all, it felt like it was. I was simply an inconvinience. They said in a meeting they target injured employees & try to look harder for incompetence to make them resign, or to have it in the books they were incompetent & they weren't fired over the injury. CEO desicion I think.

Leaving a nasty employer was the best thing that ever happened to me. I retrained & became an accountant. Now I found work where I am treated with respect every day. I am not ridiculed if I cry or if I make minor errors, I just fix my own mistakes. They treat me like I matter. My boss might notice my anxiety about making errors or customer complaints, but he just smiles & says don't worry about it, instead of putting me down like my old employer would have. There are places like that, I would never have believed it but there are. I never ever thought I would matter to a boss even if I was crook, it has been very liberating. I love that I got my education after everything had fallen apart. It put everything back together again.

This is not a reflection on you! Keep faith in yourself & arm yourself with information about your rights & you can get through this. I expect they do this stuff to lots of other people, not just you. It's not your fault!

Be strong & everything will work out :)

Melody

[msedin]

Thanks for the replies.

I hate to admit it but I'm really just letting this happen as it is. I cannot be bothered to fight it because it seems somewhat pointless and just like "oh the crazy girl is looking for sympathy". Maybe they knew that would be the outcome and I was an easy target...?

Hmmmm.

[NoPoet]

Hi msedin, your previous post shows classic symptoms of depression! I find that being in the wrong job triggers all my negative feelings and I feel that if I find the right job, I'll be too busy and too happy to notice feelings of depression, and I will be able to deal with them more easily if they occur.

[emma30982]

hope u feel better soon

[msedin]

I just wrote my resignation letter. Strangely it was a harder decision to come to than I ever thought it would be. But the time has come, and I need to just walk away.

Thank you for those of you who have given advice on this.

[melody]

That is very strong of you!!! Who wants to work for a bunch of jerks anyway. You saw what you had to do & you did it. You should be very proud of that. It's a hard thing to do. I am happy for you that you are moving on & that it's your choice.

I wish you all the best in choosing what to do from here :)

Melody

[bcr]

Legally your boss can't do that. You say you've met regularly and chatted, so he should have told you what expectations you weren't meeting and why. I used to work for a company where it was hard to sack people because the union knew the law so well and therefore if someone wasn't performing they had to be given an improvement plan and monitored for six months before ANY decision about changes to their job could be made.

However I also resigned from my last job because my boss was a bully and was deliberately setting out to make me look incompetent and unfortunately I didn't keep records of what happened and when so I couldn't accuse him of anything and with the depression I just couldn't face fighting a fight I would probably lose.

I hope you find another job soon with people that understand. Personally I am now working in a job with less responsibility (and less pay) but am trying to find a way to eventually work for myself and be my own boss as I know I can be more productive than most I just can't always be consistent in the way that productivity arises!

Good luck with everything you deserve to be working with people who understand and where you can make the most of your skills without being subject to the things you've experienced!

[jennismortal]

Thank you for those of you who have given advice on this.I don’t know how they work, but they do.
__________________

[cwoz82]

It's unfortunate it came to that. I have had issues with telling my supervisor I'm stressed and she's not acted on it.Just had stress induced shingles which triggered the need for my boss to call me in for a meeting. I prepared a statement to say the sickness was in part caused by workplace stress and having spoken to my
union rep have found that anxiety can come
under the disability discrimination act, especially where the illness is stress and anxiety related.
I didn't want the fuss and don't have the strength to argue my
points so I was glad to have the union rep with me as she fought my corner on
my behalf! Now they are using discretion and overlooking theshingles as a sickness case (my works have a very strict sickness policy!) and the stress comes down to my working relationship breaking down
with colleague my boss is making arrangements for me to move elsewhere. If I didn't have people around pushing me I'd have let them do wayevee they were going to do and live with the consequences but fortunately it's resulted in the company being forced to recognise my anxiety disorder and support me more it seems, had my
meeting today and it's adjourned until money for
my boss to contact HR.
Unfortunately so many companies know we are weak and won't fight and I'd have said what they did was completely illegal!

[Gordon64]

Hi Msedin

You are due so much credit for the way you have done this.

Firstly to carry on working through all the anxiety/depression shit is incredible-I know what I am talking about cos I had to take a lot of time off and am only just back on a phased basis.

But to summon up the courage to accept that your life needs to change and resign-that takes real guts.

I continue to cling on to my job and so far have had reasonable support but I am under no illusions as to what a large organisation can do to me if they put their mind to it.

I am currently wrestling with that old job versus overall health conundrum and have often thought about leaving it all behind (the job that is)-so massive respect to you for accepting you had to move on.

Good luck in whatever you do

G

[sandcat]

Hi Msedin,
I really relate to your post - esp the bit about trying to explain how awful you feel to your boss - it's really hard to find the right way to put it without coming across as a nutcase or attention seeker. Can't believe you have been treated like that, have you thought about taking them to tribunal - for constructive dismissal - ie you were forced to resign due to your employer being dreadful about your health? If your feeling crap now you may not want to, but it is worth considering.
I'm continuing to put up a front during working hours, and collapsing straight into bed when i get home most days but don't know how long can keep it up. Well done for having the courage to leave - at least consider taking them to tribunal and get something back from them
Sandcat

[joannap]

i think you have done the right thing - see it as a new opportunity to do something else! even though legally they are in the wrong - i am positive it is not worth fighting the point as companies seem to get away with anything and they will say it is something else rather than because you are ill - don't put yourself through the additional stress x