| Thanks for asking. This was a weird week at work. I've been at this place for a year and a half. I wasn't excited about the work but was in a bad spot financially so took the job. It's nothing like the fancy folks here, only internal help desk in a healthcare org. I've had lots of ups and downs over that time as the nature of the work directly has stressed me out physically and mentally. The amount of calls, the tedium and sameness, the attempts to get management to solve problems and help us be more efficient falling on deaf ears, etc etc. I really broke down over a call and getting into a meaningless argument with a colleague and had to leave. I told my boss I thought I was finished. He said take the day and relax. The next day, we talked, and worked out the issue. He's been very supportive despite some of my behavior and we're working on adjusting my role away from what I'm doing now and towards things that better fit my personality. The other guys are having some fun and jokes about it at my expense (as if a mental breakdown is just a 'fun happy sick day') but I'm doing my best to ignore the jibes. I've been in therapy since February, working on a lot of other issues plus this and my therapist had some interesting insights as well. We both think this is a good change. The biggest thing is trying to find some meaningful things in life to balance out the inevitable stresses of work. It's difficult in the US to find a good therapist, either because of shady insurance companies or, now that things are somewhat less stigmatized, great demand, but I highly recommend it. Your friends may be great but there's nothing like an objective perspective with years of training. Ask for sliding scale if you need some financial help. Also, I learned through this process, it's entirely possible to have mild or moderate depression and not really know it until those down times really hit hard. I used to think "oh, it's just melancholy", etc. A small pill every day and therapy have made what could've been a difficult past two months much more bearable. Anyway, that's my story for this week. Hope everyone out there is OK and has a great weekend. |