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Taking care of my mental health. A brief hiatus is in order

 

Without going into to much detail, I decided to leave my job at the beginning of September.  There are many reasons for this but for some time I've been feeling that my current position has not been the best fit for either the company or myself.   

I did not feel like the company was listening to my concerns nor do I feel like they really cared for their employee's; despite a killer benefit package that I'll never see again.  Their technology was at least 20 years behind everyone else and  I believe that they really didn't have the best interests of their customers at heart.

It's not all their fault.  I'm to blame too as it seems that I've not been living up to their goals and needs for the last year, and this is one of the reasons it's taken me so long to write this blog post.

In addition to trying to find a new job before the end of the month, I've been dealing with anxiety and a mild case of depression.  Writing a blog that deals with nature, climate change and other issues hasn't helped much either.  There is a lot more bad news out there than good news lately.

For most of my adult life I've had some type of depression; and I have learned to deal with it through talk therapy and the use of  Cognitive Restructuring Techniques.   This is the first time in a long time that my depression has reared it's ugly head...and I've been able to step back and look at it in a healthy way.  

Anxiety and depression can be related, or they can be two separate things.   This is the part of the program where I tell you to reach out to your local health department or call your HR person at work and find out what mental health benefits are provided for you.   There is no shame or stigma in getting some help.

To often our mental health gets ignored.  It's getting better, in that it no longer has the stigma it used to have...but it's still an uphill battle for a lot of people.  Personally I don't think that I've truly fully processed the death of my parents...and I seem to have a five year pattern when it comes to work that is something that I will see a trained professional for.  More often than not, we all have something that we need to talk about but can't for what ever reason.

This climate anxiety is new to me however but it appears that I've found a good group of people from all around the world that are working - each in some small way - to make it better.  And for that I am grateful. 


It's nice to know that we are not alone in this battle...and that sometimes we all have to just step back and take a breather.  It is going to be okay.

I'll be back.  I just need to step aside for a little bit of time and take care of myself first.

Comments

  1. Take care of yourself so you can continue to care for the earth. You are important.

    ReplyDelete

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