Career Break for Mental Health

Yes, I did. And 5 years later I'm still not working.

I would encourage you to take the break if you need to but do make sure to hold onto your employment, even if you have to go back and do part time hours, or change roles/departments to prevent additional burn out when you return.

Hi @Spookums

I’m sorry to hear you are struggling with work.

Remember that lots of people have breaks from work for lots of reasons.

You don’t need to tell your employer the reason you are having sick leave, your GP can give you a medical certificate for a medical condition. You definitely don’t need to tell them why if you take LSL.

MH issues are the same as physical health issues in that rehabilitation is assisted by taking time off work.
Lots of people who have had a person close to them pass away have time off, people have parental leave when a child is born, so taking little career breaks is actually common.

It sounds like having the break will be a good thing for you, but of course it’s a personal decision. It’s better to take the break by choice than being required to do so. It’s better to take the break than keep working and have your MH deteriorate even further.

Hello @Spookums
I can suggest to take a break from work. However, as I have learnt from personal experience recently, keep the break limited in time. Sometimes when we take too long away from our usual routine it becomes a lot harder to then start again. I think we all need to make ourselves a priority so don’t shy away from doing what you feel you need to do. Just make sure you have a set time to reset and then you can get back into it more easily. I lost my last job and decided not to look for another job which I believe was the right decision. But now it’s been almost a year unemployed for me and my self confidence has seriously plummeted now because I let too much time pass. Now it feels impossible to get back into work.
I’m not saying this will happen to you, but just some food for thought and I hope my experience can help you make the right decision for yourself. Best wishes.

Hey @Bell-Anne just a lil tip, if you want other members to be notified that you've responded, you can tag them - use the @ symbol and a drop down will appear, and you can choose their name. If their name isn't there, you can type it out and it should then appear for you to select, then it will show up in blue, like this: @Spookums

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