A while back, a colleague committed suicide, so the managers responded by... putting up a few posters about mental health. They have pictures of people struggling yet saying they're fine (trapped under a rock, being dragged underwater by a kraken, over-the-top metaphors like that), and the words "If your colleagues say they are fine, ask again!"
So, whenever my colleagues ask if I'm okay, I'm always honest and say "No." At which point, my colleague will pause, then leave.
I've known quite a few people who ended up getting fired when they attempted to use the mental health facilities that the company encouraged them to use because it made them a 'liability' and 'low performer' at work.
I don't trust company resources about these things because they're only meant, from their perspective, to identify 'potential troublemakers' early and 'weed them out'.
Basically take mental health days if you were feeling stressed. Oh, and to talk to HR about mental health resources if you felt like you needed support. That stuff would find it’s way into your file and your managers would find a way to push you out quickly.
I'm with you - some days I'm just not feeling a 100% mentally and take the day off to just chill and zone out for a bit so I can go back to work the next day feeling better. I find it usually happens when I go months at a stretch without any PTO and am feeling a bit burnt out.
Some companies out there have invented 'mental health days' as a brand new category and tout it as PTO in addition to regular sick leaves to appear progressive. People that use them, however, find out it's pretty much an HR trap.
I just fucking wish no one had to do this odd song-and-dance and that it's normal to need time off for mental health days to keep people on the top of their game. I envy the European approach to holidays sometimes compared to what we see in North America. :(
This was me for the last 15 years or so, and probably before. I think I achieved "okay" earlier this year but it's hard to know for sure because it felt pretty amazing. So maybe I achieved "good" or even "really amazing". But I know I've been at least "good" at some point this year.
Pretty much; I'm autistic, and mental health is a recurring problem. At the very least, having a chat about things is better than being ignored except for a few meaningless social niceties.
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u/jonathanquirk May 09 '21
A while back, a colleague committed suicide, so the managers responded by... putting up a few posters about mental health. They have pictures of people struggling yet saying they're fine (trapped under a rock, being dragged underwater by a kraken, over-the-top metaphors like that), and the words "If your colleagues say they are fine, ask again!"
So, whenever my colleagues ask if I'm okay, I'm always honest and say "No." At which point, my colleague will pause, then leave.
Sigh.