I took leave from work due to extreme burnout and anxiety that was driving suicidal thoughts. I took the right steps, I got an emergency consultation with a healthcare provider, they wrote me a note to excuse me from work and set me up with follow up appointments with a therapist and a psychiatrist. They also filled out FMLA because my workplace required it.
Now navigating all of this was extremely taxing as this whole system feels antagonistic to someone suffering a mental health crisis. At this point I’ve met with the therapist, who was incredibly useless and when I tried to discuss not feeling ready to return to work she spoke over me and just told me to discuss with the psychiatrist. So I met with the psychiatrist and was prescribed medication and again when I tried to discuss not feeling ready to return, how I felt I would be setting myself for failure and another crisis moment he said they don’t do months off (it has been 2 weeks) of work for stress, it’s just not done. He dragged his feet and said the most he could do is write a note for one extra week of work off.
I feel lost and failed by my providers and the work system in all of this. The FMLA paperwork was already done, my job environment is incredibly corporate and leave has to be done through FMLA. I don’t know how to navigate further if this most recent doctor will only write and note and not continue with extending FMLA paperwork.
This situation is so overwhelming and looking at all of the things I have to take care of to have a week off and then return to work makes me think the easiest way of handling this is to just kill myself. Is this how it’s supposed to work? Am I supposed to feel so hopeless after I’ve tried to go through the right channels?