Advice for going back to work after mental health leave

March 17, 2019 6:55 AM

If you took a leave of absence from your stressful job for a couple of months, what steps did you take to ease the transition back to full-time work? Bonus: bipolar disorder

I took a leave of absence from a stressful job (lots of human contact and stressful situations, understaffed, don’t want to get in too much detail) for three months. During that time I was admitted to an intensive outpatient program. I received two diagnoses which were completely nre to me: bipolar spectrum disorder (leaning towards bipolar II) and complex PTSD. My time there is over. My doctor cleared me to return to full-time work. They won’t state “return to part-time work” because... they believe in me? Suffice it to say I don’t agree and wanted at least a week or two of part-time first.

I have had trouble holding down jobs for more than 1-2 years, which caused me a great deal of shame and stress. I get the feeling that my experience may also be shared by many bipolar people, but I’m not sure (I fell down the reddit rabbithole and that wasn’t great). I’m quite nervous about returning. If you were in a similar situation, what helped you ease the transition back to your stressful full-time job? Did you ask for any accommodations? Do you have any advice for thriving in a job after taking a leave?

I’m already considering not returning to work so I’m not looking for any advice on that, thank you for understanding.

Throwaway email: [e-mail]

posted by anonymous to Work & Money (2 answers total)

I did this. Hospitalization to php to iop and worked part time during iop (so went to work in mornings did. Iop afternoon) it took almost 6 months to return back to work full time. It was ultimately successful. My primary DX is PTSD.

I took things as best I could and communicated what I needed with my boss . Overall my doctors were super supportive with documenting my needs, which was the best thing. Keep in contact with your team during your transition as much as possible.


You can do this. Therapy like that Iis a full time job, you may actually find work easier. I certainly did.
posted by AlexiaSky at 8:21 AM on March 17, 2019

I have a different diagnosis but missed time from work for mental health reasons. Here are some things that helped me when I returned.

If you have a phone and are allowed to have it at work, when you need a break are you able to disappear to a bathroom stall for a quick session on an app such as Pause or any other relaxation type of app that works for you? Or exchange a couple of texts with a partner or friend for reassurance.

Can you have notes on your phone or around your workspace that can help you deal with stressful situations? I had a set of 3 notes for a specific stressor - before (to help prepare), during (to help reset thinking) and after (to help get over it).

Is there one person at your workplace who will stand up for you and check in with you to see how it’s going during the first few weeks back? It could be your boss, an HR person or colleague, but it could be really useful to have someone who knows what you’re dealing with as well as what you’re facing on a daily basis in terms of work stress. If your workplace is large enough to have a formal HR department they should want you to succeed and should find ways to make it work for you. I work in a small organization and didn’t have that but had colleagues on my side.

Are they able to temporarily assign you to different work when you return? I was able to be given a nice self-contained project when I returned, that got me back into the routine of work before going back to my old responsibilities.

If you go back and find it difficult don’t hesitate to talk to your doctors again about what might be done differently.

Best wishes, I was nervous about returning as well, but it turned out to be ok. I hope the same is true for you.
posted by valleys at 2:44 PM on March 17, 2019 [1 favorite]