My job is making me sick

mrcactus

Does anyone else have a job that they absolutely dread going to?

I work in retail (supermarket) and have done since I left school 15 years or so.
Over recent years I've become more and more stressed due to the work that's required from me. I am a section leader/supervisor and I know this comes with additional responsibilities and more pay, there is just so much work to do that it's not possible to get it done in the shift of that day so it often carries over to the next day and so on.

I find myself waking up in the morning and feeling sick, to the point I am heaving/retching whilst trying to get ready for work. I am so angry when I get there, colleagues avoid me. I get told off for not having done the work the day before, arguing with the manager and other senior personnel. I'm surprised I've lasted this long. 

I have the odd good day a few times a year, but as it's coming up to Christmas I'm thinking "is this the year I get fired?" I'm dreading it! I know I am lucky, I work 44 hours a week whereas lots of folk out there don't have a job and are struggling.

I've been applying for other jobs but had no luck so far. I'm just so exhausted, physically and mentally and no job should make anyone feel like that...surely?

MikeJXE

Have a word with your boss and then face the consequences for your actions. Can it be any worse ?

TELLIT01

Talk to your manager about the situation.  Hard as that may be to do, it can't really be any worse than how you are currently feeling.  If that doesn't achieve anything go to HR.

Charlotte_Ca

I had a job that was making me sick because it was just too much, but because I was young back then I was not speaking to the manager saying this is too much and I need help. So, I was just trying to do it all by myself.

The only reason why I survived was because I actually liked the job and was finding the positives e.g. today I'll chat with that person and we will have a laugh, or I was thinking that other people work in worst places and they survived so I'm sure I can make it. I was already planning my exit though and that helped me as well.

Sometimes it only takes to change our perspective in order to be able to survive in a situation. Be grateful for things even the little ordinary ones. Once I was working in a team that was all men and being the only woman I didn't like it as we didn't have anything to discuss about. When I was feeling down I was focusing on other things such as "I'm grateful that even though it's raining outside, I can work in a dry office and have a heater for warmth" or I was thinking that today I'll speak with that customer on the phone etc that was helping somehow.

I've got to admit though that my last job along with a personal housing situation I was going through led me to a burnout and stress was so bad that I couldn't find any positives coz health went really bad. But, if they had done good training to me and knew how to do the job I wouldn't have ended in this situation. That was the main reason why i couldn't stay there any longer.

kimwp

A senior person in my company told me - figure out what the important things are and then figure out which of those you can get done in the time you have. Then forget the rest. You at least need to tell your managers (formally and/or to HR) how it is affecting you. Then agree what is reasonable to do in the day. Also consider stopping being a section leader.

No job should make you feel like this, but also remember that a lot of this is how you are reacting to the situation, regardless of what the situation is. That's not to say it isn't a stressful environment, but you can (with some work) learn to not let it bother you so much. When I feel work is getting on top of me, I say to myself "I don't care, it's not important". It's not that I don't care, but it brings the level of caring/stress down. And it's not important - definitely not important enough to cause you sleepless nights and your relationships with people.

Ath_Wat

Yes, teaching.  I stopped doing it and did something else.  If it made me feel like that, it plainly wasn't the job for me.

TBagpuss

YEs, I had a job that made me ill and I stuck it out too long.

In yur case, youare already job seeking which si sensibke.

I'd also suggest looking at what yu could do to make your cutrent job more managable.

e.g.

• Could you ask tostop being a manager / section leader ? It would presumably mean lower pay may be better for you in terms of your health and wellbeing, if you could manage on the lowerr salary.
• Have you spoken to your GP? They may be able to recommend things to help manage the stress. ( and possibly even sing you off for a week or two of you feel that might help) 
• Sit down, make a list of the tasks that you are being epected to do and thik abut which are the highest piorty - focus on those. Think about whether there are any elements which you can delgate to others -  often, being a manager means that the respobibility is yours but that doesn't necessarily menas you have to personally do the full task, you may be able to delaggate specifc tasks, or partsd of them, to others. 
•  Speak to you own manager about the issues with trying to get everything done in the available time and ask for either specific training (if they are suggesting that it is do-able ) or make clear , politely, that it isn't fesaible to cover it all and that you will need to be able to either delagate some of it or that some will not be compelted. It may also be worth you specifcally noting that you have been unwell asa result of stress - it's not an exceuse for behaving inappropritely and taking your anger out on coworkers but if you have madethem formally aware that you are unwell it may mean thattehy are more open to listening to concerns you are raising about the workload.