At one point in my career I was working in the health sector and my boss was a former psychiatric nurse. The previous couple of years had been tought. I had gone through some serious cancer treatment, been through redundancy process, sold my house and moved towns, and my father-in-law had died suddenly in front of me. I hadn't been feeling right and thought I should inform her. She didn't say much, and I ultimately didn't need time off, just some medication to right the ship. A few months later I applied for a promotion and missed out. It turned out she told one of her line managers that "He is mad". Lesson learned. Even the health sector is not immune from those that are judgemental about mental health. If you want to confide in someone about personal issues, be very sure that information will not be used against you at a later stage. A very discrete colleague or someone external of the organisation is always best. We all have a tipping point with our mental health. Do you know your early warning signs that you are becoming overly stressed?
