Returning to Work After a Nervous Breakdown

If you have recently suffered from a complex mental health occurrence, it is not unlikely that you've missed several weeks or months from work. In the United States, employees are routinely experiencing panic attacks, anxiety and, in some cases, even suffering from nervous breakdown, resulting in significant amount of lost time and productivity.

If you are returning to work after a period of time off, due to a mental health complication, there are some issues you will want to consider before going back to work. Because the work place may have been involved in the trigger of your mental health complication, creating complications of depression and anxiety, you will want to ensure those triggers are alleviated when you return.

Because employees who tend to be perfectionists show the greatest complication in terms of panic and anxiety, you will want to first address your tendencies towards perfection with a mental health professional. If your perfectionist tendencies are creating a greater mental health complication at work, you may need to face the reality that being mediocre is okay.

When returning to work, find a co-worker that you feel you can trust to assist you with emotions of distress and panic as they arise at work. Finding someone with whom you can partner with may help to alleviate the complications of anxiety before they begin to become magnified.

In addition to relying upon a co-worker, you may also want to discuss opportunities for working at home, where you feel safer, and also avoid business meetings and lunches, at first, until you are comfortable back in the working environment.

Ideally, you want your desk, or workstation, to be positioned in a place where there is little noise and traffic through the office. In addition, ask your employer to use warm fluorescent bulbs in the ceiling over your head as these have been shown to be far more productive than the cold fluorescent bulbs. Some employers are also accommodating employees by providing for a quiet place in which to go and relax; often referred to as the meditation room.