I think if your illness is covered under the DDA then you should be allowed time off for appointments but did you have to go through occupational health at the start? If so where they aware of your appts?
When we lose twenty pounds... we may be losing the twenty best pounds we have! We may be losing the pounds that contain our genius, our humanity, our love and honesty. ~Woody Allen
Is a chocolate muffin loving glitter ball
It is the Equality Act now and there are certain areas that they have to let you attend appointments. It is best to get specialist advice though if employers are difficult.
i was sent to OH a couple years ago when my boss found out i was self harming. he wanted to be sure i wasnt a danger to anyone else! then i carried on work for another year, then kind of fell apart. was only going to be off for 4 weeks, then that turned into 2 months, etc etc. i was sent to occupational health after my first welfare meeting while was off. the boss basically wanted to know when would be fit to return
Qualified Peer Support Worker (2017)
current mental health diagnoses: depression, PTSD, GAD, self harm, bpd
current meds (as at Feb 2017): , thyroxine, metformin, iron, b12, vit d, atenolol, Butec, Naproxen, Nefopam, Lanzoprazole, Bupropion, quetiapine (prn)
how do you know when you're ready to jump into work? Because i'm fairly stable sometimes, but at others I'm not. .... i just want to work and not lose the job, i keep losing jobs do you think this means i'm not ready?? xx
maybe try voluntary work first? build up the hours doing that and see if you can sustain it. that way you have nothing to lose.
for me, i had the job first, before i lost the plot, and i guess im very lucky in that they kept the job open to me while i was off for a year. i work in a school and am dreading returning as my mental health is so unpredictable, at the same time, my job gives me a focus and some routine and stability. my cpn picked up that me mental health dips severely every 6 weeks or so, and this coincides with school holidays pretty much, so yeh, work is really beneficial in getting better in so many ways, but i would say if you havent worked for a while to build it up slowly.
Qualified Peer Support Worker (2017)
current mental health diagnoses: depression, PTSD, GAD, self harm, bpd
current meds (as at Feb 2017): , thyroxine, metformin, iron, b12, vit d, atenolol, Butec, Naproxen, Nefopam, Lanzoprazole, Bupropion, quetiapine (prn)
how do you know when you're ready to jump into work? Because i'm fairly stable sometimes, but at others I'm not. .... i just want to work and not lose the job, i keep losing jobs do you think this means i'm not ready?? xx
this is a worry I have too... I am starting a new job in September and I am so worried that I won't be abe to manage it
I was just wondering if i wouldnt be allowed help once i left uni and got a job
The CMHT is quick to tell me that they deal with many different sorts of people, from those who are off sick and unable to work all the way up to people who work full time in positions of responsibility. So it's not a case of not being allowed help because you've got a job.
I'm self employed which has been good for me as it's allowed me to increase my hours at a level I can cope with, but as I'm getting busier I am finding it increasingly difficult to attend all appointments as the CMHT here works 9-5 and if I want to reschedule a psych apppointment because I've got a regular client at that time it can take another few weeks to get another appointment.
I find it amazing that people can work full time and still get mental health help! Obviously you can as people have said but I can't believe it cos round here they would definitely say you are too stable!! I don't know what qualifies for help tbh - I'm considered to stable/capable for any support yet I only get out of bed a few hrs a day, often cannot leave the house, feel suicidal daily and dissociate severely at points (hence being careful about leaving house). I am allowed therapy at some distant future point but no support/cpn or anything. It's really frustrating as the main reason I want help is so I can be ok enough to work - I can fit my everyday life around my problems/cope somehow but can't do that with work.
Sorry for rant... rly bad place atm
"I have a room for life at the home for the chronically groovy!" - Sgt Floyd Pepper
well, so you think people who work arent entitled to mental health support? dont you think people who work are allowed mental health problems either? im sorry you cant get help, but just because some of us work doesnt make our problems any less.
Qualified Peer Support Worker (2017)
current mental health diagnoses: depression, PTSD, GAD, self harm, bpd
current meds (as at Feb 2017): , thyroxine, metformin, iron, b12, vit d, atenolol, Butec, Naproxen, Nefopam, Lanzoprazole, Bupropion, quetiapine (prn)
I wouldn't be able to work if I didn't have the professional support that I have.
Mind you, I'm in private psychotherapy not NHS, and see a GP every few weeks.
And I don't work full time [well, 28 hours per week, which is close.]
I find it amazing that people can work full time and still get mental health help! Obviously you can as people have said but I can't believe it cos round here they would definitely say you are too stable!! I don't know what qualifies for help tbh - I'm considered to stable/capable for any support yet I only get out of bed a few hrs a day, often cannot leave the house, feel suicidal daily and dissociate severely at points (hence being careful about leaving house). I am allowed therapy at some distant future point but no support/cpn or anything. It's really frustrating as the main reason I want help is so I can be ok enough to work - I can fit my everyday life around my problems/cope somehow but can't do that with work.
Sorry for rant... rly bad place atm
I lived in Newcastle for a year and the only time I saw a MH professional was when I ended up in A&E, and even then they'd just send me away after half an hour or so, and then I got to see a psychiatrist and the early intervention team when I scared my GP, but as I said that took a year... and I only saw them once
I now live in York and from what I hear it's just as hard to get help here.
do a degree it's a bit of a postcode lottery, but it's also sometimes a case of just sort of pushing for help until you get it I think...
well, so you think people who work arent entitled to mental health support? dont you think people who work are allowed mental health problems either? im sorry you cant get help, but just because some of us work doesnt make our problems any less.
I never said that people who work shouldn't get mental health help. What I said was that I'm basically amazed any MH team will take them on, as in my experience, they have an incredibly high threshold for accessing help, and holding down a job would definitely come under some kind of everyday functioning test or whatever it is that they use to determine you're 'ill enough' to help. I'm DEFINITELY not saying this high threshold is a good idea - for one thing, it's better to catch problems early rather than letting someone deteriorate as they do now.
And in a way someone's problems ARE a LITTLE less if they can still hold down a job - I'd give anything to be able to do that! That's not to say they are any less deserving of help or that they are not struggling massively and needing care and compassion, but that it hasn't yet reached the point where everyday life is impaired to that degree.
Managing to hold down a job is a massive, difficult thing wih MH probs and I really respect and admire you for doing it - it must be very hard especially if people think you're not struggling cos they can't see it. Believe me, I can relate to that. The MH team used to be like that with me - "Oh, you've got a job now, you're fine" and thus I was left to struggle on until I kept getting fire cos I'd end up dissociating at work and couldn't keep it hidden anymore.
So I would describe myself as having worse problems now cos my life is impaired more. However that's not to say I wasn't in hell before. This is precisely why people in work/otherwise apparently functioning should be able to access MH treatment/support - before it gets worse and takes longer to get better, and the the person is dealing with the loss of career or whatever else they've missed out on.
Please understand I am currently at a dead end when it comes to accessing MH help. It is incredibly hard to see other people able to have a bit more of a 'normal' life who are accessing treatment when I cannot. To have lost my chance at the one career I wanted, to have lost job after job after job cos of my mental health problems and just want to be ok and have a normal life, yet be denied any MH help. I feel like I am not worth as much as other people, not worth helping. I am trying to deal with the grief of my lost vocation (nursing, but no-no cos criminal record/mh probs) as well as the lost years of my life (I'm 27) and desperately trying to find a way forward, a way to earn my own living an manage it.
I'm rly sorry I didn't mean to hijack the thread, just ended up writing what ive been trying to put into words for ages
"I have a room for life at the home for the chronically groovy!" - Sgt Floyd Pepper
why is nursing a lost vocation? mental health problems dont make it a lost profession and you are only 27. there are people here with mental health issues that work in the healthcare sector, so i dont see why you are viewing it as a lost profession. however, i dont know what your criminal record is for.
yes i work, yes ive worked damn hard to get a job and keep hold of it. but why should i get mental health support? it doesnt make my symptoms any less of an issue. i still have numerous mental health aswell as physical health diagnoses with varying symptoms. if you want help, you have to fight to get it. there arent many people that will ever fight for you. you can either choose to give in to it and think the world is against you ( i know i have in the past), or choose to fight.
still think you are being very judgemental with your post, just because you might not be getting the help you think you need, you seem to think others shouldnt be entitled to the help. you know very little, if anything of my past, my struggles and current issues, therefore are in no position to make a judgement of me, just because i dare to say i have a job.
Qualified Peer Support Worker (2017)
current mental health diagnoses: depression, PTSD, GAD, self harm, bpd
current meds (as at Feb 2017): , thyroxine, metformin, iron, b12, vit d, atenolol, Butec, Naproxen, Nefopam, Lanzoprazole, Bupropion, quetiapine (prn)
I have never at any point said other people shouldnt be getting treatment because I'm not! However I am surprised that they are - surprised in a good way, I'm glad others arent having the hellish time with the system that I am.
And believe me, I've fought for help, and still don't get it - in fact the more I try the more dismissive they are. Its been SEVEN YEARS of trying for goodness sake! And trying in my personal life too, trying to do stuff to make me happier, but lots of horrible things have happened and periodically still happen - and often the sort of thing that means your friends disappear eg. being homeless and other things i'd rather not mention. The horrific way I was treated by MH professionals where I used to live still gives me flashbacks and nightmares.
I tried to get re-referred to the CMHT a few days ago (have been dragged to A&E by police recently and they advised I do this) and my doc is on holiday and the other one didnt actually know who/what the CMHT is! (I posted at the time).
So don't imply I haven't tried!
Also obviously your functioning is not as impaired if you can hold down a job, by definition! That's not to say you are not struggling immensely, but that it has not yet impaired your functioning to the degree of not being able to work. This does not mean you shouldnt get treatment, it is the simple fact that you are not as impaired as someone who cannot hold down a job.
As for the nursing, well I had a place to start 3 yrs ago and it got withdrawn at the last minute cos they decided my mental health record (not current health as I was functioning better myself then) and criminal record were too much. Despite passing all other interviews etc with flying colours. So it is a great loss.
Please understand I am ready to give up because I can't see a way on. I came on this forum to try to find help and cannot seem to be open enough to post ususally I feel so hopeless. I am trying so hard to go on, I am in crisis at the moment and as usual i must go on alone, this is why people dont understand me they cannot understand if I am struggling so much why Im not getting any help. Please dont be angry I just want to die because i feel so worthless
"I have a room for life at the home for the chronically groovy!" - Sgt Floyd Pepper
have you tried making a thread about this earthbound_misfit? Sounds like you could do with some support, but your own thread may be the bext place to gain it, I fea rthat this thread may turn into an argument soon
this is my point. you feel worthless and want to die. do you not think that i too might have felt that at somepoint? just because i have a job doesnt make the suicidal urges, attempts etc any less.
and yes, i am angry, angry and wound up by the assumptions. but hey, i have a job, i guess that means im not allowed to be depressed, angry, suicidal etc.
Qualified Peer Support Worker (2017)
current mental health diagnoses: depression, PTSD, GAD, self harm, bpd
current meds (as at Feb 2017): , thyroxine, metformin, iron, b12, vit d, atenolol, Butec, Naproxen, Nefopam, Lanzoprazole, Bupropion, quetiapine (prn)
Earthbound- mental health and a criminal record don't automatically bar you from working in the nhs anymore,well not in my area.
Apparently they're having a shake up and will accept people with ongoing mh problems and criminal records on an individual basis(as in they look at each applicant individually).
If its something you really want to do maybe see if you can speak to someone in hr of your local trust and ask them about volunteering to start with?
That's the route i have to take,volunteer first then when I've done 6-8 months i can apply for paid jobs. I too have a criminal record so other can be done.
Worth a shot if its something you really want to do.x
snailonvalium - I know it doesn't automatically bar you, but mine is too bad apparently after consideration. I had a place to do nurse training which was withdrawn after they had looked into it. Previous to my application I had done care work although I have since found it very hard to get this work because everyone is clamping down on criminal records so much. I knew I wanted to be a nurse since I was in school so I do know the ins and outs of applying, and did all relevant work experience etc - like I said passed with flying colours on all that, but my criminal record combined with MH record was just that bit too bad.
I often feel like no-one in the world understands my problems, no-one seems to have expereinced the same things, and people offer advice but it is always stuff I have already thought of and tried, not like I give up at the first hurdle. Im sorry for being here or whatever I'm just so frightened and so very very alone. Thanks for being kind though.
Wendy - I have been as polite as possible in my posts and it seems like you are really struggling as I'm guessing you feel people have assumed you're fine when you're not.
I never once said you were not hurting, or feeling suicidal urges, or anything else. I pointed out that people used to be like that with me (still are to some degree cos I try so hard to keep it hidden) so i do know the feeling. However as I can no longer hold down a job I am also aware that things are worse for me now. Yes, I felt suicidal and other awful things back then, but now my daily functioning is worse, and the suicidal urges are always lurking much closer as well as things like dissociating from reality when very bad. I guess dissociation might be preferable to feeling things but it is not good for employment.
Please remember my original post was expressing surprise that the CMHT would have enough sense to see that someone still needs help even if they can work. I dont have a high opinion of the CMHT! Round here they seem to assess whether to help someone or not based on how well they function in daily life. Having a job - round here at least - would in their book probably count against getting help. I never ever said I agreed with this - just that that's what I thought happened everywhere.
I believe that you are really hurting and deserve help. I'm really sorry if my posts triggered something for you. But if you read over them you will see I was criticising the people who think "oh, they work, they're fine" not agreeing with them! What I find mind-boggling is the weird and wonderful ways CMHT's have of deciding who they will treat.
And it breaks me up inside wondering why they won't treat me.
"I have a room for life at the home for the chronically groovy!" - Sgt Floyd Pepper
