First of, i’m very lucky to live in a country where taking burnout leave doesn’t mean you end up indebted and out on the streets. so this is not a story of braveness.
i’m currently on sick leave and a number of workplace issues contributed to it among others very authoritarian management style, lack of respect, managers emotional outbursts, colleague getting fired for having opinions and micromanaging coupled with total chaos in terms of long term goals. the straw that broke the camels back was that i was questioned whether death of my cousin who died in tragic circumstances really constitutes a “family emergency”. When i returned from said funeral my manager joked about it and asked if i had fun during my weekend.
i described my symptoms to the doctor and she signed me off without any doubt for a month and then we will see.
the last thing i wanted is for the management to assume this was because of what happened in my family. so i called my supervisor and said “it’s important that you know that this is caused by workplace, the toxicity we’ve been all subject too (and all the rest described above)”. i think was the only time i heard this man speechless. what a load of my chest.
i’m still digesting this and i’m pretty sure i will lose a very well paid job as a result. but at least i can stop asking myself a question “how much is my soul”.
wishing strength to all here!