"Overwhelmed at work leading to sick leave"

I was feeling very overwhelmed at work. The pandemic caused a lot of stress for our office, and the workload was increasing. I had already been feeling overwhelmed for approx 18 months before the pandemic and the increase in workload. I also had a few personal issues that added to stress.

I reached breaking point and my health was starting to suffer - I wasn’t sleeping, I couldn’t concentrate, I was very emotional and I dreaded work ever day. I had a very sickly feeling every day. I felt very low in confidence and was doubting my ability at work, as well as my ability at home and I felt I was failing in both work and home life. Every day simple decisions stressed me out and I couldn’t make a simple decision without feeling that I was going to make the wrong one every time. My confidence was at an all time low, and I was really struggling with daily life. I contacted the GP and was immediately signed off work. 

The GP referred me to the Conditional Management team in Lisburn. I was offered an initial call with the team who listened to my story and understood my situation. They reassured me that it was normal to feel the way I was feeling and that they would be an able to offer help on their programme. I was allocated to a mental health nurse in the first instance who helped me to understand my feelings and helped me to see that my thoughts were all normal. After a few sessions I was then allocated to another colleague who helped me to focus on returning to work. I was able to see that I needed to learn my work limits and learn to control the work-life balance.