[Verity81]

I am currently off sick from work due to a breakdown in January where I was admitted to hospital. I then attended a day hospital and am now in pre-treatment DBT, but starting a group session this week.

I have had two meetings with a occupational health doctor who was very nice said I will recover but need support and flexibility to attend the therapy which my line manager is happy to support.

I have had one sickness meeting with my line manager which was fairly informal. I now have a formal meeting with head of service, HR and department manager. I have already contacted my union to get representation and my local mental health advocacy service to get advice.

I spoke to my line manager this morning who said she wanted the meeting delayed but the department manager said he has to schedule it due to procedure. She said I won't be fired as I am planning to come back, am getting better and am doing everything I can to recover and have already discussed a phased return with them.

I am still afraid as I want to be able to work, its good for my confidence and of course I need a wage coming in. I am trying to be positive but its hard. I keep thinking all 'what ifs' .....what if I have another breakdown, lose my job, lose our house, marriage suffers etc etc....

I just want to cope like I see others cope, I'm fed up with being at the whim of anxiety, paranoia and tears!

[greentires4me]

besides your union would fight for you if you lost your job. What if you go back and find it too stressful what then?

[Verity81]

My union will fight for me. Feeling a bit better today. If I found it too stressful then I would look for something part time and/or more simple for the time being. A part time wage would still be much better than nothing.

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[littlemiss44]

What about going on ssd? Then you can work pt while receiving payments from social security? That is what I do. You can make up to 1000 while on ssd. It's worth looking into. :-)

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[dumburn]

Right, your profile says your from the UK, so first things first, You can not be sacked for genuine illness, which this most certainly is.
I don't know your full history but if your condition has lasted or is likely to reoccur during period exceeding 12 months, you are legally classed as disabled and will therefor be covered by the Equality Act (EA), it used to be the Disability Discrimination Act but then everything, - racism, sexism, ageism, disability got mushed up together in to one piece of legislation.

What does this mean?? Your employer is LEGALLY OBLIGATED to make reasonable adjustment for you to enable you to continue working, it may be something formal and contractual such as an alteration in start/finish time or shorter or fewer days either for a short while or an extended period of time to be periodically reviewed with input from yourself and OH

For me all i needed was to informally tell my boss that I just need to be left to get on with things, and I will look after the rest.

to be clear you can NOT be fired for getting ill, there are laws that protect you.
Most doctors will agree that working is good for you (as long as you truly are capable) and it really does sound like you want to be working, and you have excellent support from your line manager which is important.

I suspect this upcoming meeting is about working out the best way to get you back to work as successfully as possible and for everybody to be clear on what their role is in supporting you.

[allme]

I have been through the exact same thing and know how stressful it is

You can't worry about the 'what ifs' as they may never happen! And if they do happen, you will deal with it at the time. If it does become too much, maybe you need to find another line of work? I was so stressful at my last job but luckily come across a home working job which I am doing now.

What's really important here is you don't go back before you're ready!

I hope everything turns out ok for you

[TheOriginalMe]

You've already got a lot of support from your employers so it is probable that this is what this meeting is about. There are probably internal policies and procedures that they have to follow and the apparent urgency of the meeting is likely to be about them following the policy just in case at some time you turn round to them and say they didn't help you. Phased return is a good idea and your doc can put all that on your fit note with all sorts of suggestions about how your employers can help you. Regular contact with work is an important part of making sure things in smoothly on your return and I'm sure that is what is happening here.