Dealing With Anxiety During Sick Leave

Dealing With Anxiety During Sick Leave

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When we take time off work, we may feel a little feeling of guilt, for leaving colleagues in the lurch, for not doing your work but taking time off is sometimes essential for both your mental and physical health. If you are off work for illness, you are most likely going to be spending it in bed feeling sorry for yourself and if it’s for an injury like a broken leg, it may make you feel as if you are trapped. Maybe your injury was caused by someone else, this way, you may feel a sense of anger that your life has been turned around at the hands of someone else. A personal injury lawyer could assist you in this and make you feel a little less upset about the situation but it may still pose a threat to your health in other ways from being away from your normal routine. Here are the health issues you might experience when you’re off for a long term of absence. 

Depression

During a long sick leave, many people do get depressed because you are away from your normal routine and you are suddenly thrown off balance. You may start with a feeling of boredom and that there was nothing to do and nothing you can be doing in the interim. Many days you are confined to the house because your body is stopping you reaching goals and meeting new challenges. This can be incredibly difficult, and you should watch out for signs of depression when you’re off work including sleeping too much, being less active and not having much interest in other things.  If you’re in a job where it’s possible to work from home, that is OK and you should definitely try and do what you can.

Stress and strain that can lead to anxiety 

Long periods of sickness can be incredibly stressful because you start to worry about things like money and paying your bills on time. Yes you may have sick pay but this may not cover you for as long as you need off work and if you struggle to pay the bills you will start to feel a certain amount of stress and strain. To avoid stress, you can try to save money in different areas and always have an emergency pot which can help. There are lots of jobs you can take on online during this period of sickness to keep your finances healthy, which won’t affect your day to day job. 

Difficulty Adjusting to a new pattern

When you are off for a long period of time; you will struggle to get back to work when you do go back and the routine changes will affect sleep and anxiety levels. This in turn leads to daily issues and you never feel as if you’re truly back to your old self. Try and wake up at the same time every day and try to stay as active as possible even just a small walk.

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