Tell Your Employer That You’re Mentally Unwell??

This can be a difficult area for many of us, and indeed, for employers, too. As an employee, of course you want to be productive while at work and fulfill your role to the best of your ability, but if you are suffering from a mental illness, then you may be entitled to certain accommodations. As an employer, you may want to be sympathetic to your employee’s state of mind and are naturally concerned about doing all you can to support their productivity.

Ideally, you could try to talk openly with your employer about your mental illness and pave the way for a solution that provides balance between what is expected of you at work, what you can do, and what can be done to help you. Here are a few guidelines for doing just that:

 

How specific do you want to be?

You get to decide whether you tell your employer that you have a medical condition, and you can choose not to disclose specific details e.g. whether you tell them that you have a neurological issue, a mental illness, or whether you choose to tell them your precise diagnosis, such as depression or anxiety. Remember that this decision is entirely yours to make.

Help your employer understand more about mental illness

If you have talked to your employer about your illness, it may be helpful for them to read more about the condition. Provide them with some literature that they can read in their own time and some resources should they want to know more.

Talk to your employer about how your illness may affect your role

It may be that your mental illness doesn’t inhibit the way you fulfill your role at work, in which case you can tell your employer that. If it does affect you in some way, however, be sure to communicate this in as precise terms as you can, so that they will know what accommodations (if any) you may require.

Just because you have disclosed your mental illness to your employer doesn’t mean that you can’t also remind them of your qualities and your suitability for the role, and if your employer should have any concern about you, your state of mind, or your work, then you should tell them how best to convey those to you in an appropriate manner.

Explain to them that a solution can always be found and that you are willing to work towards one.

 

One of the primary issues concerning the relationship between an employer and an employee with a mental illness is a lack of understanding and appropriate communication. Talk as openly as you’re comfortable with your employer about your mental health issues and show them that you are willing to work together for the benefit of the company and your role within the workforce. You may also find it helpful to discuss any work placed concerns with a counselor, who can guide you through your options if you’re feeling misunderstood while at work.

Get help now! https://heartcenteredcounselors.com

Or Call Us: (970) 310-3406

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Are You Worried That You May Be Self-Medicating?

Social pressures, longing to escape reality, reactions to stress, trying to forget a recent trauma, and even curiosity, can all be reasons why people turn to drugs or alcohol. Some may also be trying to manage the side effects of other drugs or medication that their doctor has prescribed them or trying to reduce the symptoms of a mental illness.

When the term ‘self-medicating’ is used, it refers specifically to drugs or alcohol being misused to try and mask the symptoms of a mental health condition, and this can be dangerous if left unchecked. If you’re worried that you, or someone you know, may be self-medicating, then here are a few important things to be aware of:

What happens to our brains when we self-medicate?

Several changes can occur in the brain when a person uses drugs or drinks alcohol, and the neurotransmitters that enhance the feeling of pleasure may become heightened. The person may find themselves experiencing a temporary sensation of being removed from reality, and for someone suffering from a mental illness, this can be an extremely desirable state of mind.

If self-medicating continues, however, the chemistry in the brain associated with regulating emotions, motivations, pleasures and reward-processing, can alter as the substance dependency deepens. If a full dependency forms, the brain may stop functioning as it previously did altogether, paving the way for a chemical imbalance when the substances begin to wear off or are removed.

When this occurs, the symptoms of the mental illness may become much worse and the individuals stress levels may soar to a wholly unmanageable degree. Stopping the misuse of many substances can be particularly dangerous if you don’t seek medical help.

Self-medicating can also interfere with prescribed treatments and medications for mental or physical ailments, too, and when combined, the side effects of the abused substances and the symptoms of any co-occurring disorder may be increased.

What is a co-occurring disorder?

A co-occurring disorder refers to when a person is struggling to cope with more than disorder at the same time, and the best way to tackle this is thought to be through an integrated model that can effectively manage both sets of symptoms at the same time.

 

Treating the problem of self-medication:

Most people who self-medicate have an underlying medical or mental health concern, meaning that integrated treatments are always going to be the most effective, since they combine medications with therapeutic methods of treatment. The medication is given to stabilize the person, while the therapy helps them to understand any potential triggers for self-medicating and  teaches them how to manage them in the future. Some of the therapeutic methods center around behavior and attempt to teach the individual new life and communication skills along with stress management techniques.

Only when then the sufferer begins to understand the reasons why they self-medicate, can they ever begin to learn new and healthier ways of managing their stressors and begin to lead a more fulfilled life. Recovery can certainly be sustainable, and seeking professional help a very helpful step to getting there.

Call us now to get help for you or your loved one: (970) 310-3406

Or  visit: https://heartcenteredcounselors.com/

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Coping With Bereavement When Suffering From Depression

Grief will enter all our lives at some point or another, but if you’re suffering from depression, the pain of losing someone that you love can feel like too much to bear. While there is no right or wrong way to grieve, sometimes acceptance of the fact that you are hurting and have every right to do so can help you find ways to cope with the loss.

Here are a few helpful tips for coping with bereavement when suffering from depression:

Try not to punish yourself:

Kindness is indeed a virtue, and there is perhaps no more important time to be kind to yourself than after suffering the loss of a loved one. Allow yourself time to grieve while remembering that your body and mind will likely not heal quickly, so don’t punish yourself if you don’t meet a recovery timeline that you may feel is expected of you. Be kind to the good person that you know you are… to yourself, first and foremost.

Be forgiving:

One of the first things you may do when you lose a loved one is experience feelings of regret: that you should have spent more time with them or should have told them that you cared about them more often, for example. You may even feel guilty for not reacting to the bereavement in a way in which you feel you should: perhaps you can’t cry, or you feel guilty for being relieved that they are no longer suffering. Accepting that there will be myriad emotions connected to the loss, and forgiving yourself for how you might be feeling, is a hugely important step in the healing process.

Establish some small routines:

While there will naturally be some changes to your usual routine when you’re coping with a bereavement, you could try to have some small routines you do regularly, to help prevent you from shutting down and ceasing to function.

Accept and/or seek help from others:

At a time of deep loss, others will want to help you, and even if they’re performing some simple acts for you, such as running errands or walking your dog, you may benefit greatly from letting them in. If you’re struggling to cope with how you’re feeling and are not able to talk to friends and family, then consider seeking professional help from a caring therapist.

Sometimes, someone unconnected to you may be the best person to guide you through the range of emotions that you’re experiencing, and with their training and experience, they will help you achieve kindness toward yourself, and permission to go through your own process, after losing someone you love.

Coping with depression is challenging enough, but add a bereavement to the equation, and it can take feelings of despair and sadness to new lows. However, no one should have to go this through alone, so no matter how you’re feeling, remember that there is always someone who can help you, and that you are worthy of that help.

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When the Pressure To Feel Happy can make You Feel Depressed

Mostly in life, if we are feeling happy or excited about something, we receive positive reinforcement from those around us, and our emotion is celebrated. Nothing wrong with being happy about a promotion at work, or being excited about taking a trip somewhere, all perfectly normal.

The same cannot be said if we are feeling sad, however: this emotional state is sometimes punished by those around us rather than celebrated. Perhaps friends, family or co-workers begin to avoid you, or even become frustrated by your melancholy state of mind.

But why should this be so? If happiness is so acceptable to everyone, why isn’t sadness? Why do those around us try to change those feelings instead of accepting and supporting us when we’re feeling at our worst?

 

In pursuit of happiness:

In Western societies, happiness is viewed as a state of mind that most desire to achieve, and perhaps more importantly, it’s seen as being a healthy state of mind and something to be pursued. “Negative” emotions such as sadness, fear or anger on the other hand, are sometimes regarded as being destructive and unwelcome emotional states, that should be eliminated as quickly as possible.

While we all know that a wide range of emotions are likely to be experienced by us all throughout different stages of our life, Western society can place pressure on us to believe that happiness is worth pursuing and maintaining, at the expense of all other emotions.

 

What happens to our state of mind when we feel pressured to feel happy?

If we are expected or pressured to feel happy, studies have shown that the opposite often takes effect, and we begin to feel far less happy. Those same studies also showed that when we’re under pressure from those around us to feel happy and not show or feel any negative emotions, our self-image becomes negative and we may even begin to experience feelings of loneliness and social exclusion.

 

Those who often experience social pressures to feel happy and not sad, have been shown to be far more likely to demonstrate depressive symptoms. Now while they may not be categorized as experiencing clinically significant depression, the effect of the pressure and its negative effects can clearly be seen, nonetheless.

 

What can we take from this evidence?

The findings of such studies serve to highlight the importance of not invalidating your own, or others’ emotions by fervently pursuing happiness and spreading the message that sadness is not a desirable state of mind. While it may be true that most of us would prefer not to feel sad, promoting the fact that it isn’t a natural and perfectly acceptable emotion, serves only to make it worse.

 

If the pursuit of happiness is making you feel sad and you’re not sure how to cope, reach out to a qualified mental health professional, who can help guide you through your emotions and restore your mental equilibrium. 

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Coping With Workplace Bullying

Nobody likes a bully, right? But sadly, many of us will have to deal with them at some point in our working lives and depending on the nature and severity of the bullying, we may need to seek outside help to deal with it.

 

Workplace Bullies and What They Do

Bullies in the workplace often use the same set of intimidatory and manipulative tools that a schoolyard bully might possess, and recognizing their behavioral patterns is the first step towards putting an end to it and getting back to a comfortable working environment.

Bullies torment others and will go out of their way to make you feel small or embarrassed. They often have deep-rooted psychological issues that center around control and insecurity, and their issues tend to be with themselves, not you, although it may not feel that way when they are targeting you.

 

Recognizing Classic Bullying Behavioral Traits

Some common behavioral traits belonging to workplace bullies can include:

• Shouting – and this may be in private, in front of colleagues, or even in front of customers
• Name calling
• Disrespectful or derogatory remarks
• Criticizing or excessive nit-picking
• Undermining someone’s work
• Increasing an individual’s workload without reason
• Purposely excluding someone from normal workplace or staff room conversations and/or events, making them feel explicitly unwelcome

 

If someone in your workplace frequently displays any, or all these behaviors, then you may have a bully on your hands, whether you are their target, or a colleague.

 

Look out for signs outside of the workplace that you might be a victim of bullying:

If you struggle to sleep or have uncontrollable feelings of nausea before going to work because you feel scared, then that may be a clear indicator that you are the victim of bullying. Your family may get frustrated with how often you talk about problems at work, and you may even spend your days off constantly worrying about going back to work.

These are all strong signs that if you’re not being bullied, then there is a very real problem at work that you need to address for your own sake.

 

Never Ignore the Problem

Even if you feel that you can cope with being bullied, there is absolutely no way that you deserve it or nor do you need to tolerate it. Don’t make excuses for their behavior or mistakenly believe that you deserve to be bullied. Feelings of self-doubt can lead you down a slippery slope, and all the time that you’re busy making excuses for the bully’s behavior, they are continuing unabated and unchecked, and your mental health will soon start to suffer.

Bullies in the workplace often select their victims based upon the threat that they feel is posed to them or their career, so while no one wants to be bullied, it can suggest that you are good at your job and that they know it, that’s why they’ve chosen to bully you.

If you’re being bullied in the workplace and feel that it is having a negative impact upon your working and/or personal life, then it may be worth seeking professional help. A trusted and experienced counselor can help provide you with a safe space to talk over your concerns and can help reinforce your self-confidence and sense of self-worth, as well as help you take proactive, empowering steps.

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