I'm worried it'll affect my work.

[Spikey]

Every - roughly - six months, I take about 3-5 days off of school in the week just to think and pull myself back together so that I can carry on.

What I'm trying to think of, is alternatives. I find that these days off can really help me but I'm sure that if I do these in my actual job, instead of school, then it would really affect my work life and make me seem unreliable.

I want to be a teaching assistant, by the way.

But what other alternatives could I do?

Thanks for any advice given!
RosieJ

[Validity]

My H.S.I.E teacher admitted to my class he takes sicky days to just recuperate from stressful days. Maybe just say you're sick. But, not too many days otherwise you'll need a medical certificate.

Jay.

[Always *]

Well, you really CAN'T just leave a job like that. And most people, whether we are in school or not, aren't in the position to just be able to do that. The world doesn't work like that. I know that's sort of a reality that sucks sometimes, but you have to learn how to manage your stress WITHOUT having to ditching your obligations to "get better". What if you have a child someday? Then it is going to get pretty damn hard to even just come home from work and be "off duty", even with a partner who does housework and child care with out. Theoretically you'd deal with other stuff before taking on the additional responsibility of that, but that's not really my point. I'm not attempting to criticize you here, I'm just trying to let you know.

I think if you have anxiety or depression issues that are so severe you need to ditch school (or any other obligation) for several days just to "get it together" then you REALLY need to talk to someone. And trust me, as someone who has had pretty serious anxiety problems in the past, I KNOW how hard it is to just push through, but you ARE right when you think it'll affect your jobs down the road. So go talk to someone. For now all I can say is that you just need to push through until it gets better, because obviously skipping out on life doesn't help if you are having to do it over and over. I think that the problem is that now you've let yourself get into this bad habit of just skipping out of life when it gets hard instead of finding a way to get through it on you own. Like I already said, I am NOT trying to criticize you, rather I am just trying to be honest with you. SO go talk to someone (counsellor, social worker, psychologist, spiritual leader, your choice) and STOP skipping out on life.

[psychgirl]

I just started grad school and one of my professors told me that mental health days are a must. How can you help other people if you're mental well-being isn't good? She suggests that you don't work through lunch breaks and that occasionally take a sick day (mental health day) to take time to yourself.

[iamverybeautiful]

Originally Posted by bumble bee

I think if you have anxiety or depression issues that are so severe you need to ditch school (or any other obligation) for several days just to "get it together" then you REALLY need to talk to someone.

I disagree. There's nothing wrong with taking a few days off every 6 months just to recuperate. Many people do that (ex. vacations). I know some of my classmates who do it and it helps. You're making it sound as though a person has serious issues just because life gets a bit hectic sometimes and they need a break. Even as people get older that doesn't mean that they need to be focused 100% on their job, kids, and marriage.. in fact, a person NEEDS to have some alone time, otherwise your health is at risk. It could get harder to find this alone time, but not impossible. I think the problem would be if the OP needs this alone time very frequently.

[Kate*]

There's nothing wrong with a break every so often, but logistically it's very difficult. You usually get 2 weeks of vacation time a year plus a certain number of personal days and that's it. A few vacations a year is fine, but there's a difference between needing a break to "pull yourself together" due to a mental health problem and needing a break because you've worked non stop for 9 months of the year and you deserve one. If this is a mental health condition that is interfering with your life then you need help for it, otherwise responsible use of vacation time is perfectly reasonable.