Should I take medical leave for my mental health?
Deciding to take medical leave brings heavy guilt over leaving students or coworkers behind to deal with the coverage gap. However, those who follow through with treatments like FMLA find it worthwhile and do not regret prioritizing their health.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Trying different medications and dealing with side effects
- 2Missing about once a week from work
- 3Leaving materials for the class and taking the approach that it is not one's responsibility
- 4Relying on a revolving door of temporary people in and out of the classroom
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“Asked them recently about some logistics and they inform me they don't have any leads and have not interviewed. "There's no one out there" are you kidding me?”source ↗
“Has anyone done this before? Has it helped you? I just don’t know if I’m making the right decision.”source ↗
“I feel such a strong “obligation” to be there for my students.”source ↗
“I put in for FMLA to do a 12-week eating disorder treatment program for anorexia. I do not regret it.”source ↗
“This happened to me too. Had several people in and out of my classroom because they weren’t able to find a permanent sub.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 3How can I take a long break to travel without losing my job?
- 3Can I afford to take unpaid maternity leave?
- 3Why can't coworkers donate sick days to each other?
- 2Will taking a temporary break ruin my career?
- 8How to stop working when your office is at home
- 2Can you get fired for using sick days for mental health?