RSI/stress/depression/sick leave options and consequences

katrina123

Thankyou to everyone here for their stories and help and support.

Yes it seems it is an unofficial agreement that they can work through the break and go home early. This is why they didnt want her to go to HR to discuss the break situation.

And the 5min break was politely requested, when there was no work to do.
Everybody used to just sit around in front of their computers. So she has two 5min offical breaks. But when she wants to stop working and rest, and she doesnt feel need to go to the toilet or go for a drink, what is she supposed to do? Fake her thirst or fake the toilet break? It all seems a bit unfair and unflexible.

She has arranged a meeting with her manager next week so she will explain how she feels and her problems, both computer pain and personal homelife stuff. She will also later on in the week, see her GP.

She has suffered depression, she feels, in the past, but never been to the doctor about it.

Shes not going to label anything herself when she sees the doctor, she is just going to describe how she feels on a day to day basis., and let doctor diagnose as he/she sees fit.

Yes stress and anxiety of personal life and work environment, is probably making the pain worse.

JE Sarno's books sound really interesting, thanks.

bendix

yellowduck wrote: »

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.

No yellowduck. You are not 'telling us about depression'. You are in fact telling us about YOUR depression.

They are two very different things.

And that is just my point.

viktory

katrina123 wrote: »

it is an unofficial agreement that they can work through the break and go home early. This is why they didnt want her to go to HR to discuss the break situation..

How can you say that and then this:

katrina123 wrote: »

And the 5min break was politely requested, when there was no work to do. So she has two 5min offical breaks. <snip>It all seems a bit unfair and unflexible.

Can you not see that her company is far from unfair and inflexible? Her company has allowed her to unofficially work through her break and leave work early, AND has given her an additional 10 minute break! That seems pretty flexible to me!

A break from a computer does not have to be getting up and wandering around, it could be another piece of work that is not computer based, such as photocopying, filing, fetching the post, writing up a to do list.....You mention your daughter needs to stop working and rest...well that is what lunch breaks are for! However, your daughter has chosen not to take her break and therefore is almost certainly exacerbating her condition. Your daughter needs to learn how to manage her day.

yellowduck_2

bendix wrote: »

No yellowduck. You are not 'telling us about depression'. You are in fact telling us about YOUR depression.

They are two very different things.

And that is just my point.

syntax rather than fact

viktory

yellowduck wrote: »

syntax rather than fact

It is a fact that you are describing your depression - and it is also a fact that depression affects different people in different ways.

yellowduck_2

viktory wrote: »

It is a fact that you are describing your depression - and it is also a fact that depression affects different people in different ways.

I just felt that thge use of caps in your first reply to me was a little aggressive, was under the impression that caps was "shouting"! Anyway depression does have commonalities and these are used when diagnosing it, the most typical being a low mood that does not lift for several weeks, loss or increase of appetitie, trouble sleeping, lack of pleasure and\or interest in things that the individual previously enjoyed. I think the lottery win analogy is quite a useful one, if someone feels that even a big lottery win would not lift their despair then the chances are that they are depressed. I would also like to say that I have worked througout the other times that I have been ill, just that this time it was so severe it felt life threatening. Anyway this is a board for discussing employment matters so that is the end of my contribution to this thread.

viktory

yellowduck wrote: »

I just felt that thge use of caps in your first reply to me was a little aggressive, was under the impression that caps was "shouting"!

That was not me.

yellowduck wrote: »

depression does have commonalities and these are used when diagnosing it.

Agreed. Nevertheless, the way depression affects you might be very different to the way it affects someone else.

katrina123

viktory wrote: »

How can you say that and then this:



Can you not see that her company is far from unfair and inflexible? Her company has allowed her to unofficially work through her break and leave work early, AND has given her an additional 10 minute break! That seems pretty flexible to me!

A break from a computer does not have to be getting up and wandering around, it could be another piece of work that is not computer based, such as photocopying, filing, fetching the post, writing up a to do list.....You mention your daughter needs to stop working and rest...well that is what lunch breaks are for! However, your daughter has chosen not to take her break and therefore is almost certainly exacerbating her condition. Your daughter needs to learn how to manage her day.

She has to arrive at work 10min early to make up the time.
Yet toilet and drink breaks are part of the shift, you can go to the toilet for 15mins, and you dont have to make that up. You can eat food at your desk, but you cant eat it in the canteen area. Its all rather petty. And the feeling of being watched and accounted for every minute, doesnt sound like a healthy work environment. If someone eats at their desk, they are not working, yet if they want to eat in canteen which is a few metres away, they have to arrive early and/or take official lunch? Oh well, it should all be sorted out very soon.

jdturk

katrina123 wrote: »

She has to arrive at work 10min early to make up the time.
Yet toilet and drink breaks are part of the shift, you can go to the toilet for 15mins, and you dont have to make that up. You can eat food at your desk, but you cant eat it in the canteen area. Its all rather petty. And the feeling of being watched and accounted for every minute, doesnt sound like a healthy work environment. If someone eats at their desk, they are not working, yet if they want to eat in canteen which is a few metres away, they have to arrive early and/or take official lunch? Oh well, it should all be sorted out very soon.

To be fair what you have said sounds like most work places and IMO is not that bad, you can eat and work you know whereas if you move from the desk you are away not working at all.

bendix

yellowduck wrote: »

I just felt that thge use of caps in your first reply to me was a little aggressive, was under the impression that caps was "shouting"! .

The caps were used for emphasis, because I was making the point that you were describing your depression, not anyone else's.

Is paranoia a common feature of depression also?