Has anyone on here ever felt they were suffering work-related stress? If so, what was the solution? Did you find your own solution or did you approach management? if so, did it get solved this way or is it ultimately the beginning of the end? Should I just start looking for another job?

Hi, I have that particular T shirt. You need to go and talk to management. If you immediate management is the problem then find a sympathetic managment ear elsewhere and get their help.

If this route fails, or they just aren't being responsive. Go home, go to the docs and get signed off. In my case it had a wonderful effect because being off with Stress is the companies issue and problem and something they have to solve. Don't go back for at least 2 weeks, if you have got yourself into a real state, ie palpetations and complete anxiety. Do loads of riding, the weather is ace and just get yourself well enough to have some meetings with people at work (don't be afraid to set up the initial meeting off site, cafe, deserted pub etc.) as it is less hard for you and should make it easier.

Then be honest and work with your manager or the HR bod to identify suitable solutions.

Good luck – you have my sympathy.

SC

palpetations and complete anxiety

I've always thought that was the coffee habit.

being off with Stress is the companies issue

Until you try to get a job elsewhere…

Hi Onzadog

I work in occupational h & s and have been developing a raft of stress related policies and procedures just recently. Do you work for a large company? If so its likely that your HR team will be fairly well advanced in this field, perhaps less so for smaller organsiations but they are required to take this seriously and act professionally.

http://www.hse.gov.uk/stress/index.htm this is a really useful microsite and spells out your employers duties.

Definitely speak to your manager and if possible to your HR department also. The HSE are driving some management standards through so the law is on your side in this.

Don't for a second think this is your fault and that your only solution is to leave.

Also worn that particular t-shirt. Go and chat to the doc about it to get their view on your condition and then decide whether to talk to management. My particular management wouldn't have listened until I had a doctor's note in my hand. Yours, hopefully, are nicer people.

I tried to deal with it myself by just more riding but all that was, was a sticking plaster. Also, people around you e.g. work colleagues may not understand…

I got given 2 weeks off. Went on a Welsh road trip. Felt ace for the first time in months. Came back and gave my notice and freelanced for a while and financially, had the best couple of years of my life. The time off gave me some perspective and was a huge help in clarifying my thoughts.

Good luck…

um… I don't understand. But then I have always worked in smaller (<40 employees) companies where you couldnt just get signed off and let the company worry about it. I would worry/stress more at leaving the company in the sh**.

Maxray, I think that's a big part of the reason why things are the way they are. I've got a strong work ethic and have always just assumed that I should be able to get through what's put in front of me. Colleagues tell me the best way to deal with it is to just do what I can and let the "progress check ups" roll like water off a ducks back. Thing is, if I'm being told I should be getting more done, I feel like I should and rather than leave that thought in the office at the end of the day, mentally, I'm taking it home with me. If I booked the time I think about the job to the job I'd have enough TOIL built up to take about 6 weeks off. I even had a dream last night about my boss and a pan of scrambled egg whites! I work for a local authority so the HR teams and the like are all in place but I just wonder if these things ever actually get resolved or if people just pay it lip service until you leave.

I didn't even think of it as work related stress, I thought I'd just been under the weather a bit but talking to someone lastnight, it does seem to fit. I'd always assumed I was mentally tough enough for something like this not to get to me.

Onzadog do you have an Occupational health department that you can visit? They can be a great source of help both emotionally and prctically. Also, what it is in particular that ou think is stressing you out at work? too much work? Bullying boss/colleagues?

I guess you dont know what is too much until it is too late Onzadog 🙁 I must admit I never switch off from work really, there is always some aspect of a job or client situation that I am mulling over in some way or other.

Whilst it would be nice to switch off occasionally I don't know if I would want to switch back on again!! :o)

I hung on for 2 years at my previous job (working as an ESOL teacher for City College Brighton) scared to leave because of having a family and kids. In the end, after I'd tried therapy, drugs – which I'm still on, and a couple of phased returns, we came to an agreement that I should leave. By then I didn't care, I'd got into bike building and with the 3 months money they gave me I bought loads of bike bits. I then sent my CV round the local language schools, and got 4 offers, of which I took one, and I'm working teaching business people English, without any time to build up the bikes! I get paid less, there's a lot less security(the work will probably tail off in November), but I'm a lot happier. But really, my GP was the most helpful person in all this, and if I'd taken his early advice to leave I could have saved myself a lot of hassle. It's very difficult to know what to do for the best as each situation is unique, but if you think you can get another job then I would strongly recommend leaving.

Clareymorris, I think the big thing is that the only challenge at work is the volume of it. I was looking through all the job spec etc recently and had to laugh. The call for a high level of literacy yet tell us to write letters in very simple English, to the point where we're dumbing things down. They called for a high level of numeracy but the most taxing maths question I've ever been asking is if a car does 0-60 in 15 seconds, what speed would it reach over 100m. They only asked me that one as I have an engineering degree; it really was the fluke peak of mathematical demand.

The other thing is that because it's a super PC mad local authority, you can't get promoted by being hardworking and good at what you do. Everyone gets to apply for vacancies and it comes down to how well you can play BS bingo in interview! I was even told at my last PDR that I didn't need to be pushing so hard to get on! How de-motivating is that!

The link kindly posted by Yossarian made interesting reading. I’ve got more symptoms than I realised! I didn’t know you could suffer stress from too little pressure as well. Is it possible to suffer from too much (workload) and too little (mental challenge) at the same time?

Interesting thread. Out of interest what is the legal stuff on pay in relation to having the odd day of work for illness/stress and/or childcare duties? I recently had a day off cos i had to look after my kid for the day in an emergency (wife was ill) – result was i lost a days pay. Seemed fair at the time but now i'm wondering if i should have lost wages for that day? Small co though, less than 10 employees. Anyone know?

Is it possible to suffer from too much (workload) and too little (mental challenge) at the same time?

yes, it is and i'd say its one the most common causes of stress (certainly in my experience). feeling obverworked and yet unachieving is a shit feeling and one that leads to low self esteem. A lot of the issues surrounding stress management relate to middle managers/team leaders and how they coach and support their teams. In the uk most managers (i think 70% from some survey) have no management training whatsoever, including getting the best from staff. Its a common, and until recently unaddressed issue, in the workplace with a lot of stigma attached to it.

How robust is your appraisal system? Do you have, or have you had, opportunities to discuss your workload and job description with your manager?

A lot of organisations are scared of tackling stress because they think the floodgates will open and everyone will be off work when actually tackling the issues will make the company more productive, reduce sickleave and improve morale. A bit of training and some senior management commitment is all it takes, the problems arise when you have established compnaies with 'old school' senior managers who are stuck in the past – if you work for one of them you're probably better off leaving anyway.

I can totally believe that the lack of challenge could make you feel like this. We all need to get something out of our day job, not just the paycheque!

I think maybe it is time for you to look at yourself and try to work out what you can do to take yourself out of this situation, which may well be leaving to do something else that actually challenges you and makes you want to get up in the morning for…

Onzadog, firstly all the best.

Secondly, deal with it now. It'll only snowball and cause you more stress.

I was at the point of feeling dizzy, about to keel over. I spoke to my boss. It helped a great deal. We were going through some very dark days. Very dark days and I was eating myself alive over it. A friend recently got off his bike on a section of downhill, walked down and threw his bike on the floor at the bottom in sheer anger. I was really worried as it took him a while to come down. I knew where he was coming from and where he was at that moment. I'd recently been there for a longtime- couldnt ride anything as it was too stressing as well. Thats when I spoke to my boss. We changed how we work, its (hopefully) working.

Some bosses wont be as understand but you've got to ask yourself, is this a boss you want to work for then? They cant fire you nowadays(?) for suffering from stress.

Mrs (well, Dr) North spent 6 months off work last year as a result of "situational depression" caused by, to put it simply, work stress.

She let it go too far, to the point where she absolutey wasn't able to cope and had, in effect, a nervous breakdown as a result of it.

The biggest problem I saw was the impact it had on her ability to see the situaiton with any objectivity; this then compounded her feeling of inability to speak to anyone about it until it all became far too much.

Therefore, I support the advice of others – you need to speak to people sooner rather than later. Yes, it takes courage, but it's far better to fight that fight than find yourself about to leap into the abyss over it.

She has now returned to work, and the Occupational Health and HR people at her employer (a University) were very good. Sadly, the work stuff hasn't entirely resolved itself, though she is aware of how much she can let it affect her before she needs to step back. I keep a close eye, too.

The six months she spent away from work allowed her time (and under the influence of anti-depressants and the benefit of CBT) to get her head straight. She was in a very bad way for much of it, though, and will never really get over it.

Speak to a friendly person at work and ask them for their help and objective advice. And do, whatever you do, make sure you tell your loved ones how you feel, however weak that feels.

Thanks everyone, the wife took the mick when I said I was going to ask STW about this but it's been a big help. Not a single instance of MTFU either which I'm almost disappointed about. 😀
I'm going to have to speak to my team leader about this although i feel almost sorry for his as the other team leader is involved with the service manager and it's that other team leader who's part of the problem!

I guess one of the most useful things here is finding out I'm not the only person ever to have felt like this about their job. I'm almost getting the impression that it's the more switch-on, conscientious and diligent types who seem to suffer the most

I had a similar situation at the last company I worked for, spoke to my managment and HR, and it only got worse, eventually relocated to another office, but had nothing but broken promises and they knowingly put me in a very awkward situation (internal politics).

Eventually got another job and left the company. Have been so much happier ever since.

Oh bugger……….MTFU!!!!

It's really hard to start the ball rolling, but once you do you can only benefit because you will know that the outcome has to work for you be it withni the company or elsewhere. It is not particularly easy but as managers they should be able to help you, after all it is their job and one of the reason they are paid mopre than you! Unfortunately some can be spineless and not actually do anything therefore letting it carry on. Be strong…..we're with you 🙂

There we go, now I've had the full spectrum of advice! 😉

double tap

it is possible to suffer stress from too little workload. that was the part of my particular issue. although to be honest, the combo of STW, Bikemagic and Bikeradar is quite handy in that regard.

being in completely the wrong job with the wrong skillset what the other half of my problem.

now doing something productive and reasonably challenging is great, but it has been quite a long road to get here. i am in one of those organisations who, through history has really good redundancy terms and employee benefits so the percieved risk of moving is significantly enhanced. as a result it is easy to feel very trapped.

we are in many ways different from a local authority but there are some similarities to draw. you clearly need some time to reflect so take it sooner rather than later. then figure out what you are going to do.

I did suffer from workplace stress so I quit. Best move ever.

"The other thing is that because it's a super PC mad local authority, you can't get promoted by being hardworking and good at what you do. Everyone gets to apply for vacancies and it comes down to how well you can play BS bingo in interview! I was even told at my last PDR that I didn't need to be pushing so hard to get on! How de-motivating is that!"

I can totally relate to this after leaving a local authority role with nearly 20 years service,

I worked incredibly hard to promote myself up through various roles.and eventually I found one that was perfect for me,but due to a back injury and poor (unacurate) pdrs, stress levels went sky high, my employer and union withdrew any support,To this day I dont really know why.

I ended up with some pretty serious mental health Issues that started with "work related stress" As Clare says using the Oc health department can be usefull, but to be honest without managment and Union support,In my case I had no option but to leave.

I think out of the whole illness thing, the hardest part is understanding why your suffering with WRS in the first place! Once you know this its much easier to resolve,and thats where Oc health come in. 😉

I must have had a dozen or so meetings with the Oc Health nurse,but on reflection I was talking with the wrong person.It was really a managment problem that snowballed because imo I had an illness and for some reason my employer couldent handle myself in that particular role.

I hope things work out onzadog,if your still talking with your team leader then thats a good thing,good luck fella 😉

I'm going to add onto the bottoms of Gavgas's post and say that in the few weeks since he left the change in him has been really lovely to see. I know he still finds the whle process painful to think about too deeply, but he is SO much more like his old self 😀

Employers will do everything to tick the boxes so that they've covered their backs, fact. Basically, they want an easy life – don't we all? but as soon as you're suffering WRS you're grit in the mill – and, of course, they will never, ever, admit that they're the cause of the problem. I remember my father talking with contempt of 'time and motion' study men; now the world's overrun with them; they're called 'managers'. My problem is that although I want to work, I cannot take these people seriously, especially their lip service to mental health issues, and yet they're ruling the world – result 'stress'; which is the gap between you're philosophy, even compromised, and theirs, not. You've seen 'Brazil', read '1984', even seen the 1st 'Matrix' (we are intelligent enough to appreciate that some people are caught in a web of deception but we think that's not us, or if it is, like the turncoat in the Matrix crew, even knowing the truth, we'd prefer not to accept it; but until we do we'll never be free.

As TJ said, maybe its the wrong job for you. You know this subconciously but you haven't reconciled this consciously yet.

Or possibly more accurately; Its the right job, wrong particular employer. Other employers (even in the same sector) have a different way of working).

Some great advice on here as always…Martin and horas posts are spot on 😉

Thanks all. Had a chat with employee health and wellbeing, they've put me in touch with BUPA as I'm entitled to 6 free councelling sessions. Maybe I'm a touch cynical but has anyone found this to help of is it just a non-comitial head I can rant to?

Still, I guess what ever happens, it's in my best interest to at least been seen to be going through all the steps.

I think a BUPA Councelor will look at your situation in a broader kind of way,there may be some references going right back to when you were younger,and this can seam irelivant and awkward but dont be put off by that.

Its important for them to work out where you are "in your head" as early as possible to acheive a posative outcome in the future.

Theres one person thats going to sort this out its YOU,and its done very simply by thinking outwards rather than within.

Getting the correct thought processes going again will boost your morale and is the first step on a road to normality.

Whatever you perceptions of councelling are,It really is a constructive way of putting your work ethic,and well being back together.

It sounds a bit cliche,but being cynical is like saying, "I dont think this is going to work" Or "Its probably a waste of time but"

Your words there are a good example of how you are thinking right now!
all related to stress negativity,(ok mildly!) and linked to Ocupational stress-Anxiety-and more seriously if not treated Depression!

all the very best and good luck!

Yes – go into the counselling with as positive an attitude as possible. be honest with them and see what happens.

But know what you want as an outcome – do you want to be:
– happier doing what you are doing now?
– happier but content to consider change but with no idea how to go about it or where you want to go.
– just less pressured.
– better able to shrug off criticism so stuff doesn't feel so personal.
– just better able to cope.
– with an understanding of how to improve your self esteem and what buttons you need to push to deliver satisfaction.

Where do you really want to go and what do you want are key things to think about. Either before the first session or as part of it.

Good luck and have fun.

Also – go for a ride!

Don't google PTSD or you might begin developing symptoms and end up on welfare..

but now i'm wondering if i should have lost wages for that day? Small co though, less than 10 employees. Anyone know?

You are entitled to time off. You are not entitled to be paid as well. Any reason why you think you should be? After all, you already get your own holiday entitlement and bank holidays paid for.

just out of interest – if you dont mind – how old are the ones who have suffered work related stress?

I was 37 at the time of my troubles, 😥 and its taken the best part of a year to come to terms with it.

Guess I'm about due then, I'm 34. Always did like to get in early!

Its Interesting that you mention your "Memory loss" Muddypuddle,That was one of the symptoms of stress I had,and examples of this were used against me by my previous employer,in my personnel development review (PDR) 😕
The fact I have a back injury was causing major concentration problems.

This in turn caused more fustration, and of course made things even more stressfull! 😥

I had to have a chunk of time off when I was 37.

This was after 12 months in a job which left me with lots of time and then being forced into a job I was ill equiped to do, especially considering my low self esteem at the time. I asked for help on numerous occasions, did not recieve any until I walked out part way through the day and then spent 3 weeks on stress related sick leave. I then moved into a temporary role where I could do the job and then back into the job with little or no work.

I have since moved on, within the same company and gone from a poor performer to a good performer over night because i am in the right job! Pretty happy now and feeling good despite being in a more stressful job! If that makes any sense. I am in the fortunate position of working for a big company with some potential to move within the organisation – hence de-risking actions such as taking sick leave and moving jobs.

Symptoms for me included panic attacks and a tight chest. The time off and some counselling really helped me see things in perspective but the changes in role and the feeling of doing something useful and being appreciated for it are the key elements to ongoing good health!

You probably know this already but this is worth a read:

http://www.bikeradar.com/fitness/article/health-cycle-away-from-stress-22726