![]() ![]() Ultimately, I decided that sharing my story was worth the risk because it might help others who are struggling. Alfiee.Īs a brown woman, I worried about going public with my mental health leave because I feared I’d be viewed as less than my white colleagues who did the same thing and lose future employment opportunities. “All those kinds of similar messages, I think, make it very challenging for people to attend to something as important as ‘this job doesn’t make me feel good,’” says Dr. Children of immigrants are often told about the sacrifices their parents made all in hopes of a better life for their kids, she says. Alfiee’s also works with immigrant families. She’s heard things like “you have the freedom to go to this job,” which made her feel like she had to be grateful to be employed even if the job was toxic.ĭr. Alfiee (who is Black) was told enslaved Black people didn’t have the choice to work. But up until that morning, I’d managed to keep my internal beasts from escaping their cages.įor some people, especially those of color, it can be harder to walk away from a job because of the guilt around work that’s likely been ingrained in them their entire lives.Īs a child, Dr. For about a year, I dreaded leaving my bed before work and often felt physically sick. My temporary mental unraveling was a long time coming. I sent a hurried Slack message to my editor to say I had to take the day off. ![]() Lynn Bufka, the American Psychological Association‘s senior director of practice transformation and quality.īut at that moment, those few sentences sent me spiraling into what felt like an almost catatonic state. Therapists aren’t always familiar with the required documents and eligible conditions to access leave, according to Dr. Later, I learned that a helpful first step is to contact your company’s Human Resources department to start the process to apply for leave. She thought my anxiety diagnosis wouldn’t qualify me to take short-term disability (the official name for one type of leave). Minutes earlier, my therapist told me a mental health leave from my job wasn’t an option. But this time, my mind and emotions refused to comply with my workload. Usually, I could push myself past the anxiety and self-sabotaging thoughts that threatened to hold me hostage. I sat slumped in my chair, staring in a tear-stained haze at my computer screen.
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