Information About Health & Workplace Bullying Misconceptions

Other pages:You & the Health System Legal & Work Issues

Sometimes it is hard to admit that you are stressed, depressed or just suffering from bullying. And when you do decide to admit it, you may have reservations about telling people or taking medication. Here is some important information on what you may experience and what work issues you may need to know about. You may also wish to check out the 'Experiences' section in jfo:i.

Your reaction is completely normal. It is the situation that is abnormal.

Anti-depressants are not addictive, although there can be issues with withdrawal in some cases, if not managed properly.

You may be concerned about the stigma of having a 'mental health' problem. When you consider that at any one time between 5-10% of the population are suffering from mental health problems and over a lifetime you have a 20% chance of suffering, the main reason for any the 'perception' of a problem is that people are afraid to talk about it. Help make this better, further down the road you will probably tell anyone - but for now, it may seem very hard.

You think that the depression will just go away or get better on its own - this is not true and usually needs intervention when it affects normal functioning. It's not wrong or stupid to ask for help.

Other people's views - they won't understand or care:

Friends: Try it - tell a friend. If they don't want to know, then how much of a friend are they? You may be pleasantly surprised to see how much support you will find coming forward. If it would help, why not consider how you would react if a friend told you that they were depressed - why should your friends answer be any different from yours?

Work: 'I fear that I will jeopardise my job' is a common fear. On one hand, you need to let your employer know if you are suffering depression so that they may help you by way of reasonable adjustments and also legal cases need proof of 'foreseeability', i.e. a company knew there was an issue and did nothing to prevent further damage. Any further bullying or lack of response to your stressors is a clear breach of their duty of care.

But on the other hand, extended sick leave allows them to terminate your employment on the grounds of frustration of contract. You may also be 'viewed' differently and you may feel that the bully will say that this confirms your weaknesses etc. This is a difficult one and can be summed up as: damned if you do, damned if you don't.

With the hindsight of experience, you may wish you had told them BUT this may not stop the fear, isolation and possible further victimisation that occurs. Only when employers take their Health and Safety responsibilities and managers their people responsibilities seriously, will this be corrected. What a sad and sometimes morally deficient world this is. You may also be interested in the 'Experiences' section of jfo:i as it deals with this issue.

If this area interests you, you may wish to take a look at the Experiences section.