RSI/stress/depression/sick leave options and consequences

glossgal

SueC wrote: »

Not sure who you think is doing the assuming, but as it was part of the OP's header I don't think it's anyone who has responded to the post!

Yes it was in the header but as the OP didn't really give any detail that would back it up as a diagnosis I was questioning the references to DDA for example. As other posters have pointed out she actually needs to have a long term quantified illness to be protected under DDA not just be a bit peed off.

I'm not downplaying it as an illness before anyone suggests it by the way, quite the opposite. Like Bendix though I just can't help rolling my eyes every time it gets trotted out as a fallback position for any gripe/ rough patch a person goes through.

bendix

glossgal wrote: »

Yes it was in the header but as the OP didn't really give any detail that would back it up as a diagnosis I was questioning the references to DDA for example. As other posters have pointed out she actually needs to have a long term quantified illness to be protected under DDA not just be a bit peed off.

I'm not downplaying it as an illness before anyone suggests it by the way, quite the opposite. Like Bendix though I just can't help rolling my eyes every time it gets trotted out as a fallback position for any gripe/ rough patch a person goes through.

I've been a bit peed off for the last 45 years. I don't consider that to be depression. I consider it to be the natural response of someone reasonably sane and intelligent to the folly of modern life.

infj

I hope I can give your daughter some hope. I have suffered from RSI (including a short bout of depression) for nearly 20 years and apart from when it was acute I have worked for all of that time.
Unfortunately there is no cure and nearly all jobs require PC work or repetitive movement but it can be adapted to.
Official description is work related upper limb disorder.

Have you heard of voice recognition software? It keeps me in work. It requires persistence but is surprisingly good.
If you can afford it visit an osteopath or chiropractor. Far more helpful than physio. Mine keeps me going but I am lucky enough to be able to afford it.
I think the law requires for PC work a 10 min break every hour but the reality is that a sole employee against a company is not going to be able to enforce that.
She should hang on, stay on sick and let them go through the procedures to sack her, but at least she has income till then.

Stress and anxiety will make the pain worse. Mine is always worse when stressed. If you can get hold of it, read JE Sarno "The Mindbody Prescription". I still struggle with his ideas but it really helped me deal with the pain and not to catastrophise things.

Ice is better than heat for pain. Also try hot/cold contrast baths. Put arms in hot water for 2 mins and then very cold water for 1 min and repeat. Finish with cold. Surprisingly helpful with acute/chonic pain - gets the blood flowing.

I really hope she feels better soon. I know how hard it is to cope with seemingly endless pain and to see no relief. But it will get better and you can learn to cope.

jdturk

There is no actual legal requirement but under health and safety it is recommended as follows
Entitlement to breaks

There is no legal limit to how long you should work at a VDU, but under health and safety regulations you have the right to breaks from work using a VDU. These don't have to be rest breaks, just different types of work.
Guidance from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) suggests it's better to take shorter breaks more often at your workstation than longer breaks and less often, eg a 5-10 minute break after 50-60 minutes continuous screen and/or keyboard work is likely to be better than a 15 minute break every two hours. But if your job means spending long periods at a VDU, eg data input, then longer breaks from your workstation should be introduced.

When working at a VDU make sure you can sit in a comfortable position, and keep a good posture. Your eyes should be level with the screen. Make sure you have enough space and don't sit in the same position for too long.

If you are disabled, your employer's duty to make reasonable adjustments for you may mean that they will provide you with special computer equipment or alter existing equipment to suit your needs. You can also get advice and maybe help with paying for equipment from your local Jobcentre Plus.

bettybelle

bendix wrote: »

Everybody is depressed these days, glossgal. Didn't you know?

We've never been better fed, better clothed, have more holidays, own more of our own houses and fill them with more things to keep our tiny minds amused, and yet - bizarrely - depression is rampant.

Unless, of course, that depression is some kind of 'i feel a bit !!!!ed off today' disease, dressed up like a painted !!!!!.

Go figure.

I'm not sure how to take this comment. I suffer from severe, long term endogenous depression and it has bulldozed through many aspects of my life to date, but is something I manage as best as I can.

On the one hand, Bendix, if you are having a go at the many people who have a bad day/feel bored/bit down in the dumps declare they're depressed then I totally agree..it does seem fashionable nowadays to say so. In one way this is good because it's not so much a taboo but then people who genuinely suffer get tarred with the same brush (making it up, over reacting etc )which isn't so good.

On the other hand, if you are inferring that depression is something made up then I think you are very wrong (as does the entire medical profession) Implying that when people have nice cars, clothes etc they shouldn't be depressed is very ignorant! When you are truly depressed it wouldn't matter if you won the lottery, you would still feel like dying.

Just my opinion and sorry if I got the wrong end of the stick.

Uncertain

bettybelle wrote: »

On the other hand, if you are inferring that depression is something made up then I think you are very wrong (as does the entire medical profession) Implying that when people have nice cars, clothes etc they shouldn't be depressed is very ignorant! When you are truly depressed it wouldn't matter if you won the lottery, you would still feel like dying.

One of the best comments on this forum for ages!

viktory

katrina123 wrote: »

They work through a 30min break so go home early, so the 5min break was the only official break for long shift. They class drink breaks, toilet, walking around breaks from the computer. They were quite hostile to the 5min break request.

They are breaks from the computer - and if staff choose to work through their break, and go home early then why should they be entitled to another five minutes? The company are perfectly within their rights to tell staff they have to take their break and that their finish time is whatever it is - not thirty minutes early! I can fully understand why the company is hostile towards the idea of another five minutes - what if they then choose to work through that? Then decide, 6 months down the line, to take another five minutes?

bendix

bettybelle wrote: »

I'm not sure how to take this comment. I suffer from severe, long term endogenous depression and it has bulldozed through many aspects of my life to date, but is something I manage as best as I can.

On the one hand, Bendix, if you are having a go at the many people who have a bad day/feel bored/bit down in the dumps declare they're depressed then I totally agree..it does seem fashionable nowadays to say so. In one way this is good because it's not so much a taboo but then people who genuinely suffer get tarred with the same brush (making it up, over reacting etc )which isn't so good.

On the other hand, if you are inferring that depression is something made up then I think you are very wrong (as does the entire medical profession) Implying that when people have nice cars, clothes etc they shouldn't be depressed is very ignorant! When you are truly depressed it wouldn't matter if you won the lottery, you would still feel like dying.

Just my opinion and sorry if I got the wrong end of the stick.

Of course depression exists. It's a medical fact.

What p****s me off is the ease with which people decide they are depressed when, in fact, they're just out of sorts. It's as if depression is a fashion label these days - an easy to wear and very convenient to excuse all sorts of behaviour.

Count the number of threads on this part of the forum in which people have been 'on the sick' due to stress or depression. Do you genuinely believe all of them are depressed? I don't, and my suspicion is confirmed when they suddenly feel they would like to go back to work after 2-3 months which - bizarrely - is when their full salary entitlement runs out, and they realise they will only get SSP.

I'm sick of hearing about it . . these people are malingers and need to get a life.

bettybelle

Then I fully agree with you Bendix, a well made point.

yellowduck_2

Well let me tell you about depression: this is how it has affected me during the four episodes I have had in my life, I have felt as if I was out in a desert at night in the cold and the dark with my feet trapped in the sand, I have hidden in my house and stopped answering the door and the phone, I have stopped eating, I lay in bed for days on end lacking the energy to get up, wash and only going to the loo when in pain. I wanted to die as I felt I was a wortless burden to my family and friends. I could not go out as I thought people were staring at me and could see what a freak and a failure I was. At age 21 I tried to kill myself just to get away from the dead hopeless feelling inside. I will probably be on medication for the rest of my life. And when my SSP ran out I did not care as I was far too ill to work.