Last post Sat, May 10 2008 12:15 PM by brucec3. 1 replies.
Have been battling with depression most of my adult life. Had a brain stem stroke in May of 2005 & was fortunate enough to have recovered enough to return to my job of managing a warehouse for a soft drink co. About a month ago, I knew something was wrong when I almost got rid of my dog because she needed a new ecollar. I thought the expense was not worth the friendship of 9 yrs. By the , I bought the ecollar. But I made an appointment with a mental heath professional, but had to wait about a month. In that time several things happened at work, I only worked 12 hrs a day which is ok, but let a project go in order to help my people with thier work so we wouldn't be there even longer. In turn, I was written up with the condition if it didn't improve, I would be terminated. My decision to to try to help my workers was based on my health & trying not to work longer. It turned out bad. Part of the write up was as a manger, my hrs are not set & I need to work extra hours to complete certain tasks. So I tried that this week & exhausted myself bnecause of 2-16 hrs days followed by a 14 hr day. By Thursday my appointment came due with the mental health professional. I found out how bad my depression was when I broke into tears & said I don't want to die, but I sure don't want to live like this, plus my answers to some other questions. She said she wanted me to go from there to the hospital for my safety, but I refused. She wrote a note not to return to work until Monday, & when I called to tell them that, work had a list of things they wanted the Dr. to fax them. Just like they didn't beliesve me when I said I'd bring the note on Monday. I feel like they're trying to develop a case against me. I know they couldn't know about how I feel if I work to hard,(stroke or depression), but I'm pushing myself to work 12 hrs. I don't qualify for disability, & lucky & glad I don't, but am scared what the outcome might be. I'm 58 years old & afraid if I lose my job of 30 yrs, I don't know what will happen. I feel like I'm just hanging by a thread, both my job & my life. Am trying to turn it over to a higher power, but just don't know where to turn while I'm waiting for an answer. Has anyone else suffered severe depession this long after a stroke? Any ideas what to do? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks, Mike
Hi Mike I too am a stroke survivor and I also suffer from depression. I wish I was working,but I have too many other health problems so I can't work. I am on SSD and we barely get by. If your employer is jerking you around, I would consider speaking to an attorney to see if you have a harassment case against them. Good luck and hang in there! Bruce
