A friend at work lost his father, and his father in law (who was like a 2nd father) within a month. His mother had a nervous breakdown, and his wife tripped and fell down the stairs breaking both her feet, making her immobile. He also has a child with severe autism that requires continuous supervision.
His blood pressure skyrocketed to a steady 175 bpm, at 180 you are looking at a heart attack. The cardiologist told him he needed to relax.
My friend visits his general practitioner, tells the doctor that he needs two additional weeks off work to care for his family and bring down his blood pressure. Doctor notices that this will mean my friend will be off work for an ENTIRE month. The doctor refuses to write the note.
My friend throws a fit. In 15 years he has never asked the doctor for anything, but in a moment of crisis the doctor won't budge – the doctor just can't accept that people should take that much time off work. Eventually, the doctor caves, but only because of the dangerously high blood pressure.
The idea that life is about work and we should only free up time so we can do more work is so deeply imbedded in our culture that even some of our doctors will refuse to give us medical exemptions if they think we are taking “too much” time from work.
Don't ever feel guilty about taking time off work.