depression and work

belfast28

hello,
ive been officially suffering from depression for the past 5 years however I suspect it was undiagnosed since teenage years. I have been in my job now for the past nine years, last year my wife had a miscarriage and I took it very hard, I was off for 2 weeks and my manager was understanding. Lately my depression has become almost unbearable and I struggle greatly to get out of bed in the mornings, ive been on medication for 5 years and also had 2 courses of counselling and had a cpn assigned to me. since my depression has got so bad im now considering telling my boss that I have been diagnosed with severe depression, my worry is that I will be discriminated against and maybe pushed out off my job. If I tell him is there any legislation where he can punish me for keeping it a secret for so long? my doctor is fully aware of how severe my depression is and has offered me numerous periods off but I have declined, I feel now though that I could really do with a few weeks off to look after myself. im at my wits end, could anyone offer any advice please?

Siberianski

legally i doubt they could discriminate against you or push you out of your job that would be breaking the law. I have had depression in the past ad i was up front with my employer, they referred me too there axa support line.

haydonwynter

Hi buddy,

To the best on my knowledge it's illegal to sack someone for being depressed. If you feel that you need the time of work to recharge and take care of yourself do it a.s.a.p. Your own health has to come first and if you a feeling the strain taking a little time out now to re-energize will probably be the best option for you and your employer.

Have you tried some CBT? you can use free online resources like MoodGym and E-couch, you might find it helpful as you can work through it at your own pace

Hope this helps

belfast28

haydonwynter wrote: »

Hi buddy,

To the best on my knowledge it's illegal to sack someone for being depressed. If you feel that you need the time of work to recharge and take care of yourself do it a.s.a.p. Your own health has to come first and if you a feeling the strain taking a little time out now to re-energize will probably be the best option for you and your employer.

Have you tried some CBT? you can use free online resources like MoodGym and E-couch, you might find it helpful as you can work through it at your own pace

Hope this helps

ive tried cbt but it didn't help, ive tried counselling also which left me feeling irate at bringing up hurtful thoughts from the past. Now im at a stage where I don't enjoy anything in life, nothing, and ask myself daily why do I persevere, ive had a few suicide attempts in the past. I worry though will my manager ask why didn't I tell them years ago when it was diagnosed, why have I kept it secret all this time. I was on cipralex for 4 years, then changed to sertraline which made me feel angry a lot off the time, I had people in work ask me was I ok as they seen a change in me, I kept it hidden, now changed meds again to diazepam, duloxetine, zolpidem and omeprazole for heartburn due to the tablets. I don't know where I go from here. thanks for replying by the way

Takeaway_Addict

haydonwynter wrote: »

Hi buddy,

To the best on my knowledge it's illegal to sack someone for being depressed. If you feel that you need the time of work to recharge and take care of yourself do it a.s.a.p. Your own health has to come first and if you a feeling the strain taking a little time out now to re-energize will probably be the best option for you and your employer.

Have you tried some CBT? you can use free online resources like MoodGym and E-couch, you might find it helpful as you can work through it at your own pace

Hope this helps

Firstly, sorry for your loss OP

Secondly to the quoted poster...This isn't quite true, whilst it's true that suffering depression offers protection against dismissal straight away if you are off sick due to it for a long period of time then you could be dismissed on capability procedures legally (this does take time OP and should not be at the forefront of your mind for now). The employer does need to make reasonable adjustments but these differ depending on the case in hand.

OP, I agree you need to look after yourself, most importantly and get signed off. If you don't wish to disclose depression then would the doctor not write something related to the miscarriage?

You've not lied to your employer I presume, you've not filled a health questionnaire out and not declared it so I see no issues on that but no one can tell you how your employers will take it, only you really know how they think and you have to make that judgment.

For me, what I find the worst is lack of communication from the employee during sick periods. Keep me in the loop and it is a much better position all around.

Takeaway_Addict

and OP you've gotta keep going in getting help. Please don't stop trying.

haydonwynter

No problem mate.

belfast28

I honestly don't know what to do

Takeaway_Addict

talk to your doctor and get their advice

haydonwynter

Takeaway_Addict wrote: »

Firstly, sorry for your loss OP

Secondly to the quoted poster...This isn't quite true, whilst it's true that suffering depression offers protection against dismissal straight away if you are off sick due to it for a long period of time then you could be dismissed on capability procedures legally (this does take time OP and should not be at the forefront of your mind for now). The employer does need to make reasonable adjustments but these differ depending on the case in hand.

Sorry buddy, thats what I meant i.e. after SSP runs out etc. I know things need to be reviewed after a while and your job won't be protected for an unlimited time. but yeah eventually it could cause a problems, but it should not be that big of a deal if it's for a few weeks.

belfast28

haydonwynter wrote: »

Sorry buddy, thats what I meant i.e. after SSP runs out etc. I know things need to be reviewed after a while and your job won't be protected for an unlimited time. but yeah eventually it could cause a problems, but it should not be that big of a deal if it's for a few weeks.

how long does ssp last?


im only looking 2-3 weeks max, not talking months, just a little worried how ill be viewed if im truthful with my manager, he'll maybe wonder why im telling him now after being diagnosed five years ago and struggling in silence since.