New Here - Maintaining Employment and Work

Welcome to this forum @Peaches123

Good on you for reaching out and seeking ideas from members who are juggling work with their diagnosis, the community is definitely here to share their wisdom.

As you mentioned there is a wealth of experience and unique aspects to each persons story, and of course no competitions, you are doing what you can and need to manage your wellbeing - and having future goals to work towards is something so important 🙂

Looking for the right balance for you and seeking input from others like on the forums is a great way to stay connected and gather support.

So welcome and I am sure the members will be in touch with their top tips 🙂

Mindee

Hi @Peaches123

Welcome to the forum. I don’t have SAD, I am Bipolar Type 2 so the experience may not be the same. I have struggled with employment for a long time. Its not easy, I was recently hospitalised and that was tough with all the anxiety around my work, but in the end its important that you look after your mental health. At its toughest I would say that looking forward to wind down times, listening to music in the night and steady medication has been the biggest help. I know that lots of people have good luck with exercise, I find, my energy levels are so low unless I'm hypomanic that I don't tend to exercise much.

I will at times garden when I am feeling up to it and that really helps as well, I wait until I am particularly energised to do something big in the garden though.

I seem to have mentioned all the things apart from how I cope at work, at work I found that I spend a lot of time in the analysis of numbers, and that is when the time really flies, I dislike presenting but can do it sometimes, I see lots of neurodiverse people in the workplace and some workplaces are really good like that, I would say its really important to stay connected at work to social groups, I used to smoke and that was always a good time to talk to someone. (Dont start that for the conversations though)

Meditation is a big one for me when its possible and im not sitting in a mixed episode.

I hope that helps, also the forum here is lovely. Im waiting for a live chat IRC-like function so we can all chat to each other, hard to moderate though. 😀

@Peaches123 fantastic question! I dont think there is a simple or single answer. 🤔.

Peoples degree of impact on functioning can vary within the same diagnosis. And sometimes people may have learned more coping / behavioural management techniques that help them to "one foot forward" despite the symptoms which can help maintain "external function" and employment. Although sometimes longterm this "one foot after the other" behavioural approach can lead to declining MH and burnout -- thats where I am at myself.

I've never been able to work fulltime. It took me a lot of cognitive and emotional acceptance to accept that i can't. So i've worked parttime since leaving high school, in professional and skilled roles. But its taken its toll. I think i would be a lot healthier now if i hadnt been working at all! Or had found a "non-standard" pattern of work hours that allowed for flexibility.

I'm currently on extended sick leave and once a bit better i will be looking at what work is suitable for me with regard to flexible number of hours that can be varied week to week based on my physical and mental heath needs. Sadly most professional work is not structured to accommodate this so it is most likely i will have to change into a completely new type of work because my weekly capacity is too low to do anything meaningful in my area of work.

Im not sure if this helps other to suggest perhaps look at what pattern of work hours and flexibility you need, and if overhwelm at work is a contributing factor - is there emotional regulation techniques that your psych can help with? Or is there modifications the centre can make to reduce these stimuli/triggers? Or if it is inappropriate behaviours of others - can you talk to someone about it? Or perhaps need to find a better environment to work/volunteer in?

Is the reason for wanting to work because you want to contibute and have meaning?

Or because you feel societal pressure to be expected to able to work/function like a "normal" person?

(Always ok to not want to answer questions! Please never feel any pressure to)

Thank-you for your response. I agree with what you suggest about impact of functioning varying within same diagnosis. I just read on the forum about people with SAD and ADHD working full-time and it made me feel like I should be. I want to work because of both reasons; to contribute but also because of societal pressure.

However, my main reason is so that I can move out of my parents house, have more freedom and independence, stand on my own two feet and have better self-esteem : )

I've always held down a job even with severe mental health episodes. I was regularly in hospital (a few times each month). I never told work what was happening, but I had one manager who was understanding and let me go home early every week @Peaches123

What's hard is that most people want someone full time. What I found is that you can start off full time and then drop down, but you really need to prove yourself. If they see you as a liability, and unreliable, then they don't want to take the risk.

Is there something you can do from home?

@Peaches123 I would say that every person's journey is different. So for myself, I was able to work fulltime and have what some might say a somewhat "normal" life, but the full time work actually made my conditions worse in the end, and also added a whole load of guilt and shame onto me because I wasn't able to keep up. I haven't worked for about 4 months now, and am slowly looking to go back into part time, but I've taken the pressure off myself to ever work full time again because it's just not something that works for me. At least not right now. I think you need to do what is right for you and also what is healthy for you. Working full time isn't necessarily the only goal. To me it sounds like you have realised some of the things you have found helpful, such as volunteering, seeing professionals (psychologist and psychiatrist) to help keep you well, living with your parents who seem very supportive when you need extra support. I think these are all very positive things for you, although I can see that it could also get frustrating at times. In terms of getting back into work, I think volunteering is a very good way to gain a bit more confidence in your abilities and also to upkeep skills for your resume. Perhaps there are also some topics that might be of interest to study part time, or that don't have a deadline of when tasks are due so you can also gain professional development that way? Just a couple of suggestions that I've felt helpful for myself.

Welcome to this wonderful group of people @Peaches123 I have suffered with depression ever since my partner of 11 years passed away in 2002. It took 6 months to be diagnosed with depression, but I was also deeply grieving at the same time. At this stage in my life, I found working full time was helpful to keep my mind busy. But in 2018 everything changed for me. At this stage I was already working part time, but I was assaulted by my partner, and I needed to move to get away from him, and change my daughter's school etc. But then he found out my new location, and I was assaulted again and held against my will. Because of my injuries and my state of mind, I needed to take some time off work. But I was the Legal Bookkeeper of a small family lawyers, so there was no one to do my job when I was not at work. Twice my doctor gave me two weeks off work, so I could recover, but I was too scared to take the time off, because of fear of losing my job. So, I only took off the minimum amount of time that I could to recover.

I was called into the bosses' office and told that if I have any more time off work, they will have to find a replacement, as they can't run the business when I kept having time off. And then he told me to smile more around the office, as it was bad for office morale. I wanted to reach over the desk and punch him in the face, but I just sat there dumbfounded.

It was two days later that my ex-partner found me, and I knew I needed more time off work after what he had just put me through, so I text the boss and said I quit. Because of my decline in my mental health, I could not concentrate at work, and I was constantly breaking down crying. I knew I was making mistakes. And when you are dealing with a Trust Account, that is a big no no, and big fines, like $50,000 apply for certain errors. And basically, I haven't been able to work since. My depression was upgraded to major depression, I had suicidal thoughts and I now also suffered from panic attacks, anxiety and C-PTSD. I was constantly in and out of abouts of depression where I wouldn't get out of bed for weeks. And I knew there was no way I would be able to work, while this was going on. After quitting my job, I could no long afford my car payments, my rental payments, or to put enough food on the table to feed my growing daughter. So, my ex-husband and I agreed it was best that our daughter lived with him while i was going through such a difficult time. So, I lost my daughter, i had to declare myself bankrupt and my car (that I loved) was repossessed, and then I was evicted from my rental property, as I was no long two week in advance on my rent. And unfortunately, I have been without a place to call my own coming up to 8 years.

Last year I was finally approved for the disability pension. But I do want to do some volunteer work with animals, but because of all the time spent in bed, I now have muscle loss, which has caused chronic back issues, which nearly has me house bound. I have accepted that because of my condition, Volunteer casual work is probably the best I can hope for, once I have strengthened the muscles in my legs, arms and back.

So, for me, I think one question you need to ask yourself is, is your conditional stable enough for you to work full or part time on a consistent basis, so that employers won't get annoyed. And will it impact on your mental health negatively.

How are you @Peaches123 ?

I am doing a lot better actually. I am in rehab 33 days clean and sober. They are helping me set SMART goals to work towards things and I’m pretty sure I’m going to start studying a Cert IV Mental Health (Peer Work) so that I can help others and find purpose for myself. Intake is in July and I’ll be finished rehab in June so it works well. Thanks for checking on me.

@Peaches123, I believe we may share common interest - and you possibly have a story to tell. Please read my story, share yours on the forum and support the movement.

Things don't have to be this way... But we need to stick together and fight for what is right.

https://saneforums.org/t5/Advocating-for-change/Are-others-experiencing-quot-masked-quot-dismissals-...