Sunday, January 14
I am overwhelmed with everything going on so I was just thinking: I need to take a mental health day today. Even though I have a bunch of things on my work to-do list, I may just skip work today. But I started feeling very weird and guilty about this idea. Is it okay to take a mental health day? The idea has never occured to me before and it's certainly not something I've ever done, not consciously anyway. I pondered this for a few minutes.

Then suddenly I realized that this whole line of questioning was insane. Why? Because it is Sunday AND I'm actually sick, as in physical ache and pain in my body due to some stupid bug. And despite all that, the only "excuse" I could come up with for not working was a "mental health day"!

I think this just answered my question: I am definitely due for a mental health day.

1 comments:

fraud, in denim said...

You're definitely due, TS. I hope you're truly able to just take the day to yourself.

I worked for a counseling agency as an undergrad and we were actually encouraged to take mental health days. We were also encouraged to go home as soon as possible after we started feeling bad. This stemmed from my supervisor's optimistic view that a relaxing day early in the illness helped us from getting even more sick and to recover more quickly. I tested this theory a few times in grad school and I have to say that I'm a real believer now.

I hope you're feeling better soon, both physically and mentally.