sick line

[Olanzapinelenny]

hello, has anyone ever been signed off for a significant period from work? New experience for me quite late after return from maternity/ pp episode. Struggling with guilt and conflicting feelings.

[Maria_at_APP Moderator]

Hello Olanzapinelenny, it is such a relevant topic that you bring up about returning to work after a prolonged sick leave. Your health comes first and thankfully more and more employers understand that. I don't know the details of your situation, have they been supportive at work while you are recoverin? Believe me, you should not feel guilty about having time off. Pp is a huge upheaval, and recovery is not linear after. Anxiety, depression and lack of confidence are so common after a pp episode and can last for a long time.

It is so important that your employer supports you in your journey. It may be useful to have a chat with an occupation therapist and draw a plan together about your return to work, whatever form that takes. Give yourself the time to list pros and cons and also discuss it with your partner.

Take very good care, sending you best wishes,

Maria

[Olanzapinelenny in reply to Maria_at_APP]

Hi Maria, thanks for your reply. I returned to work after maternity and had phased return over 2m arranged by OT. I’m now a year on but have taken a month off so far and not sure of return date. I do feel supported at work but I’m new to needing time off and definitely feeling guilty at workload for my team in my absence. Have tried to imagine what I’d say to someone else but it’s draining having such conflicting feelings, will hopefully pass. Take care x

[Maria_at_APP Moderator in reply to Olanzapinelenny]

Hi Olanzapinelenny, I am sorry, I thought you were coming back from maternity leave that had to be extended, my muddled head :). It is hard having to take time off due to our mental health, is not quite restful as we are worried about things in our absence. Have you thought about reducing your hours, maybe? If that is of course possible, not all jobs scale down well. That has worked out for me, that I recently did it.

You also take good care, remember you are the priority and things can be adjusted at work to fit your needs, not the other way around.

Maria

[Olanzapinelenny in reply to Maria_at_APP]

Hi Maria, I’ve definitely not explained well haha. I work 4 days atm but may explore reducing to 3 to see if it helps. Thank you for your advice. X

[The_Wes_Anderson_Fan Volunteer]

Yes, I was signed off work for a whole year.

I had a psychotic breakdown when I was 20. I was an inpatient for 3 months and was then signed off for the next 9 months for convalescence. At 12 months, my employer asked for an assessment and I was told I was medically fit for work. During my year off work after discharge from the ward, I had to visit a day centre for about an hour every day. I had to get a train there. I think the travelling and motivation to go probably helped more than anything.

I worked for that Employer for another 13 years with great success. They were a larger employer.

I then had PP after my daughter at age 37. I spent 3 months on the MBU but my recovery was faster. I returned to work after 7 months maternity leave. The maximum allowed at the time.

I have read that recovery from psychosis is slower, the younger you are. Recovery is faster when you are older. This matches my experience.

My mental illness at ages 20 and 37 were virtually identical, but I took longer to recover when I was younger.

Good luck x

[Olanzapinelenny in reply to The_Wes_Anderson_Fan]

Thanks for your reply ❤️

[The_Wes_Anderson_Fan Volunteer]

The whole subject of when maternity leave finishes and sick leave starts is very ambiguous and complicated. I guess the whole of my maternity leave was actually sick leave as I was recovering from PP, which actually isn't very fair, really. Difficult subject, I agree 💗Love to you all

[Olanzapinelenny in reply to The_Wes_Anderson_Fan]

Yes this is so true! I didn’t get support when returning in the same way as there was no discussion of sick leave I just returned after max maternity leave as was planned before PP.

[Ellie_at_APP Partner]

Hi Olanzapinelenny

I hope you're finding the replies helpful.

I had some time off work (I work for APP) about three years ago after struggling with some stress and insomnia. I knew I needed to just stop completely to try to reset and get my sleep sorted, otherwise I worried I'd become unwell with psychosis again.

I did feel really guilty at first about being off, but I was so well supported by colleagues, and the organisation, as well as friends and family, and managed to really rest and recover on my time off, and went back fine.

I then actually did have a relapse 18 months ago now, (after having a really horrible virus, and lack of sleep as a result) and had some time off then too, including some time in hospital. Again I was supported amazingly, which was so helpful. I have recovered well from that episode now and been back at work for over a year now.

I would say it's so important we look after ourselves, and it's very brave of you to take time off when you've needed to. I hope you can get support and understanding from your employer, as this makes a big difference to returning to work when you are ready.

take care,

Ellie

[Olanzapinelenny in reply to Ellie_at_APP]

Thank you Ellie for your helpful reply! I think it shows investing time in recovery initially is the quickest way to recovery it’s just hard to make the choice at times instead of pushing on but never really getting there x

[Survivedwithcolor]

Since I'm an American, I'm not sure of the meaning of "sick line", but from your posts I see that you have returned to work and are now taking some additional time off, is that correct?

When I was first diagnosed in 2002, I was returned to work just as soon as I left the hospital, only two weeks. I struggled and was in and out of the hospital every month or so. I did that for about 9 months and finally resigned to go on long term medical leave. I was somewhat functional at work and took my job very seriously but the main problem was that the stress of working and caring for my young children and recovering from PP was making the symptoms more severe. My psychologist told me I had to resign, so I did. It was a horrible blow to my identity and I was very upset about it. I was a teacher and I loved my job and I loved the kids. (Even though I was unwell, I never failed in my responsibilities or was a danger to anyone.) When the school district contacted me again in the spring to see if I would return in the fall I had to tell them no and retire permanently from teaching. It grieves me to this day. Soon after that, we moved to another area of the country, and since teaching licenses in the US are granted state to state, I was no longer certified and it was impossible to return.

What I did instead, when my kids were older and I was finally ready to return to work, was to start my own business. I have always loved animals and had originally thought I would become a veterinarian. I was unable to access a program to become a vet assistant, so I became a professional pet sitter. I got certified, got insurance, registered with the state, and then I would take care of people's pets while they were at work during the day or away for vacation. I went to their homes and their pets just stayed there. It was fun and I made money doing it. I did that for ten years. I closed that business recently so I could have more time to care for family members.

If I were given a choice I never would have retired from teaching. But teaching is incredibly stressful and I just could not continue. So I reinvented my career. That's something you could think about. Many people do have work at home businesses these days and with the internet making everything so accessible, that's a possibility now.

[Olanzapinelenny in reply to Survivedwithcolor]

Thank you for your response! This gives me such hope not to feel stuck in the job role I’m in. X

[Survivedwithcolor in reply to Olanzapinelenny]

Don’t feel like you’re alone or abnormal in struggling with that return to work. Working is difficult for ALL new moms with babies and young children, and then we have a serious condition to deal with on top of all that. I can’t even imagine how anyone could do it easily. When you’re working with other people you’re always balancing their needs with your own and the fact that you feel guilty about their extra workload just shows what a responsible and empathetic person you are, as well as a valuable employee. If your employer sees that, they’ll want to support you so you can keep going. But you don’t want to keep going if it’s making you more unwell. If that’s the case, maybe it’s time to care for yourself for a while or even make a career change until such time as you are in better shape. It can be done!

I’m 20+ years out from PP now and can tell you it takes time, but you will figure it out. Be patient. I was watching Call the Midwife this morning and nurse Crane said to nurse Franklin, “That’s all you can do, just take each day as it comes.” I needed that message today and maybe you do too. Hugs

[Olanzapinelenny in reply to Survivedwithcolor]

Thank you for your kind message it’s really helped! I think my anxiety lives in the past and future but everything really does need to be just each day to be present, such a true message! Take care x

[Redtap Volunteer]

Hi Olanzapinelenny,

I had PP back in 2002 when maternity leave was only 6 months so I went back when I really I shouldn't have. I had not told anyone at work what had happened after having my son, I was ashamed of what had happened and had not really dealt with it all. With all the medication I was on, I could not even see straight to read a letter. I didn't know what my rights were when maternity leave ended and I wasn't in a place where I could find out either so I just went back. It was a huge mistake. I thought I was going to lose my job.

Luckily my social worker was really good and came straight round to see when I called her to say what had happened. The disability discrimination act had just come out and as PP is likely to last more than one year (or it was in my case) I was protected and work could not just get rid of me. I had 6 months off sick and then work had me assessed to see how I was. I had never had any time off for anything before and I did feel guilty. I think that's because we don't have a plaster that shows what's wrong like you would if you'd broken something. I had a phased return and they had to provide me with work I was capable of doing - which was at a much lower level than when I left on maternity. They also could not reduce my pay.

If you are not well enough to be at work I really would suggest you take the time off. I didn't do myself any favours with what I did. I couldn't even get a simple letter right and it reduced people's trust in the work I could do.

I hope you start to feel better soon. Don't rush it, take your time and make sure you are up to working before you go back. It can be a long process getting back to being yourself again, just take one day at a time.

I'm sending hugs and warm wishes. xxx

[Olanzapinelenny in reply to Redtap]

Thank you so much for your kind message. I’m glad you had the social worker to support you and that your work in turn supported too. It’s very true re visible illness or hidden it’s so frustrating to cope with. Hope you are well xx