I am looking for feedback on how others deal with anxiety (if you do) regarding disability, the stress of dealing with health issues, insurance, workplace, etc. If this is too off-topic I will delete the post, however my anxiety is taking a huge toll at the moment, and I welcome input from this forum as (per Red Green): “I’m pulling for ya - we’re all in this together!”
I use meds, talk to a professional, try different coping strategies, but with my return to work attempt coming up, and my massive fear of failure crashing around my head, I’d love to hear what anyone suffering or who has suffered from anxiety does to help their situation. Thank you!
Is it possible to return to work for a hours twice a week just to be around your co-workers? That is before your return to work date. Ask your HR Disability Coordinator if you can do that. Most companies will say no but who knows your employer maybe more compassionate.
Most employers see employees with mental illness as a liability. I do not have the stats on this but I received feedback from people inside my former employer. Some of your former co-workers may dislike you the most. In my case the guys who I helped out are currently saying I am using the system. ( In my case I called up my co-workers who were bad mouthing me and told them I really miss them. Fight fire with cold water. )
To reduce anxiety you need someone who understands what your are going through. This can be a friend, a relative, or some one who practices mindfulness. A few years ago I met an American aerospace engineer and he knew more about mental health and anxiety than my medical practitioners. He helped me out lots and for no cost.
You are certainly not alone in this struggle. I have not attempted returning to work yet, but I found dealing with the insurance battle and then endless reporting is a huge trigger for my anxiety. The problem is to validate our anxiety we have to identify ourselves by deficits which feeds anxious and depressive thoughts. I recently took part in a self-compassion group through an adult mental health program and that helped give me some perspective. Remember it’s a hard situation you are in, not just because of your anxiety but because of the systemic issues around mental health. Allowing yourself to feel bad and acknowledging how hard it is without taking on the blame for the situation can help. Do something compassionate for yourself (without guilt). I found that was a good start for me anyway.
Hi,
I am also similar situation. I am not in a situation to go back to work. I started Ayurveda treatment, which is moving me towards improvement. Whereas insurance want me to follow the recommendation of insurance psychiatrist, Psychiatrist assessment was done before Ayurveda treatment, but shared after, I already halfway with Ayurveda.
Insurance Psychiatrist only recommending not willing to do any treatment.To me its invalid, because, its disturbing the treatment , which is working for me, and coming into play as an impediment. Insurance want to implement the recommendation of the Psychiatrist regardless of my health.
In order to follow the insurance instruction, I have to stop my existing treatment or over pressurized me to go for simultaneous treatment and face the unknown consequences or kill my time for insurance treatment. My family doctor and psychiatrist has no objection for Ayurveda treatment, because its giving positive results. I am not sure who is responsible to secure my health and life: 1)The insurance Psychiatrist who is just recommending but unable to do treatment. 2) Insurance case manager, who simply want to execute the outdated treatment plan regardless of my life and positive Ayurveda treatment, without medical judgment. 3) The situation where doctor has no provision to work and non-doctor staff has blind authority to execute.
It seems insurance want to spoil my health for their bureaucratic investigation rather than facilitating the appropriate treatment , which is clearly defeating the objective of the insurance,
thanks for your kind attention
Thank you all for your well wishes and advice! Anxiety is a real ******* (fill in whatever awful word you can think of!), helps nothing in this case, and just makes me worry about relapsing. I’ll never be used to my chronic pain, but you do get familiar with the non-routine when you’re on leave, and the pressure I put on myself to successfully go back is aggravating. I always hear that you can’t always control a situation, but you can control how you respond to it. Wish I was better at that bit.
I have dealt with this. Never did get covered by cpap disability. Was denied again and again even with my Drs and therapist willing to go to court with me. Anxiety was too much. I found out after years of dealing with anxiety and breakdowns that I should have been treating my adrenals and my thyroid. Please check your free t3, not only the test. Look up adrenal and thyroid groups on facebook. After 3 days on dessicated thyroid I felt relief from my anxiety. It didn’t last but it pointed me in the right direction.
Hi there! I actually have an autoimmune thyroid disorder that I’ve dealt with for years, so I regularly get my freeT4, freeT3, and antibodies checked (I seem to have a particular spot within the ‘normal’ range where I feel the best). I am glad you mentioned this, as a lot of people deal with thyroid issues and are just thrown the TSH test and not properly medicated.
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