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MVA Taking Time Off From Work?

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LoveIsLouder

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It's been a couple of weeks since my accident (as I mentioned in my other post) and I kind of feel like even though work is a welcome distraction, it also exacerbates my emotional symptoms more. At least, once a week, I get so anxious and angry over my accident that I have to walk away from my desk or cry alone in a bathroom, just to get some relief from these feelings. Even if I don't feel extremely emotional, I feel disinterested with my job, a job that I used to thrive in.

My therapist is on board with the idea. She also suggested instead of taking time off, why don't I take medication temporarily while I'm working on my issues, until I feel like I'm function properly. I'd rather take the time off but at the same time, I'd feel really guilty leaving my coworkers stranded.

I guess my main question is, has taking off time from work helped your recovery at all?
 
Yes.
Because now nobody has the impossibly high expectations that I'd set for them when I was doing well. Now going to therapy and taking care of myself is my job and it's not as easy as I thought it would be, but it's way easier than it was when I was working 40+ hours a week at a demanding job.
I still struggle, but expectations are lower. Cooking dinner is easier to prepare than a 30 minute presentation, and we can always order out in a pinch. That doesn't work irl.

For me it was a good decision.
 
I think it all depends on the type of person you are.

After my accident my boss and my lawyer encouraged me to take time (almost 3 months) off from work and to go back once I had started PT. This wasn't the right option for me. If I wasn't at work I was sitting at home with nothing to do but think about the accident and the way I felt and all the alternate scenarios that could've been if I'd just reacted differently, took a different route home, left later, etc...

After about a month I realized that time off wasn't helping me at all and I needed to go back to work and keep my mind busy. I think I understand why my employer might not have wanted me back immediately though. Because, like you, I would get a wave of anxiety or anger or just lose my temper with a coworker and have to go sit in my car and cry it out or take a walk to calm myself down. And at other times I would just sit at my desk and stare at the screen doing nothing for long periods of time.

In my situation though I was able to work the amount of hours I wanted and since I'm a full-time employee with benefits, I had FMLA time available to me. So If I needed to go outside and take an hour long walk or if I realized I'd been staring at my computer doing nothing for an hour, I just recorded that amount of time as FMLA leave. It was unpaid but it meant that I could be at work and keep my mind occupied when I needed it.
 
i was in a car accident where i hit my head and have no memory of it....i took a couple days off post accident..noticed i had some bruising on my face, which made me realize i did hit my head in the accident, went back to work anyways and struggled tremendously. turns out i had a mild brain injury. i didnt last for more than 3 days.. It felt almost impossible to do my job, and i was sensitive to noise, my emotions were all over the place...happpy, mad, angry, sad . I ended up taking 6 months off.
 
taking time off definately helped me. I dont think i would have been able to keep my job had i stayed, i couldnt perform my job as i normally did.
 
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