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jefftele said:
is anyone telling you you have to return to work? i know i'm the only one who tells me i have to work ,yet the mental chatter goes on.

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Great question. The couple times I've brought up my concern about when to return to work, my psychaitrist says things like, 'well you may need a couple days before your ready' which really freaks me out! Then, when I bring it up in group in my day hospital setting, the social worker tells me things like, 'don't worry about being forced to go back to work too fast - the doctor will work with you on that until you're ready'. Very confusing!

I think I hear 'Society' telling me to go back to work as soon as possible - I'm the 'man', 'head of household', 'father', 'breadwinner', 'provider', yadda, yadda, yadda. I know that this isn't a Leave it To Beaver world anymore, but I'm still imprinted with those 'expectations'.

On top of that the quality of the person my employer brings in to fill my duties is strongly related to being able to give them some idea of how much longer I'll be out. I'm a specialist in my work and it's not easy finding a temporary replacement who can do what I do. My employer is busy and lazy and won't go search for a qualified replacement if they think I'll only be gone another week or so. My guilt about that goes way beyond being concerned at the amount of work piling up that no one is doing.

Gwydion