Submitted by acorn_to_oak t3_11rh2o5 in Washington
Rutherford_Aloacious t1_jc8ws7k wrote
Reply to comment by acorn_to_oak in Does anyone have experience using Paid Family Medical Leave for mental health struggles? by acorn_to_oak
I’d say either or both. If you have a GP it might help to talk to them as well. While mental health may not be their field I’m sure they’d be willing to help.
I’m between GP’s at the moment and went to my neurologist. I was very upfront with him about my mental health reasons for taking time and they were my main concern. I do have a seizure disorder and had one ~3 weeks before my leave but made it clear that I believed it was stress induced due to my job and mental health status.
He disagreed about the stress being a factor in my seizure but said that if my mental health was as I depicted he had no issue authorizing my leave despite it not being his direct field. He set me up with a therapist in his hospital system for a ASAP sessions and i worked out a regular therapy schedule. My psychiatrist wasn’t much help and consistently tells me that he is medication management and not really about diagnosis, but more so for medicating a diagnosis from a psychologist. Really weird and a system I am working out of. Oddly enough my therapist and I have decided to reduce my medication to zero (not there yet) to help with some side effect overlap from my seizure meds.
Help is out there, seek it. It may seem daunting but it’s better than suffering in silence, I promise you.
ETA: my leave was officially designated by my neurologist for mental health reasons and as far as my work was concerned it was a medical leave.
acorn_to_oak OP t1_jc8xyr2 wrote
I truly appreciate the thorough response. Thank you for the advice and the kind words.
Rutherford_Aloacious t1_jc8yd96 wrote
No worries, it’s tough out here.
Feel free to dm me if you need to chat or want advice on anything
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