I just thought I'd give you all the benefit of something I've learnt recently - something that is the key to my illness, it seems.
I'd been ill for over 6 months with various things and when the panic attacks started, I had to have a month off work. Things improved. When I returned to work after xmas, I went downhill again. It was then that I decided to investigate exactly what stress at work really is.
According to the Health and Safety Executive in the UK, the following things can lead to stress at work:
* too much – or too little – to do
* boring or repetitive work
* role confusion
* lack of control
* lack of communication and consultation
* blame culture
* lack of support for individuals to develop their skills
* inflexible work schedules
* poor working relationships with others
* bullying, racial or sexual harassment
* physical danger (such as risk of violence) and poor working conditions (such as noise).
I realised that I could tick several of these boxes.
Last week, I wrote a timeline of all the issues that had been bothering me at work over the last year or two (I'm a manager in an IT company). There were lots of things that had been frustrating me over a long period of time. My own manager was off with long-term stress/depression too.
I went into work for a meeting with the H&S guy and spent hours going through it. I felt that, at a minimum, I needed to offload it all. Anyway, the guy agreed with me that there are several strong points that need sorting and he is going to pursue them for me. He was very knowledgeable about anxiety/panic attacks too and said it is a common result of stress at work.
I now feel empowered and more than a little relieved to have shed this frustration. I've been signed off for another month and they have assured me that things will be different when I return.
So the moral of the tale is that if you are avoiding work due to anxiety, it might actually be that your work is the problem after all. Even if you didn't realise it at first.
I know that is not always the case, but if you relate to anything on that list, it's worth thinking about. It's all too easy to become complacent about your own needs at work - after all, hassle at work is normal isn't it?
Eeb x