[AslansHow]

On Monday my psychiatrist put me on medical leave for severe anxiety, social anxiety, depression, ptsd, autism, and ocd (on the note she wrote severe anxiety and mood disturbance.)

I told work on Monday, and gave them the note. My manager asked me to finish my week (shifts Monday, Tuesday, and then tomorrow - Friday.)

I am completely stressed now over applying for EI, as well as for the loss of income.

I have been extremely stressed over work. Every day for several hours before going in, my anxiety has been as if I were about to face a firing squad. It doesn't lessen much as I am there because I work at the front desk of a motel, and have to deal with guests, complaints, and the phone. When I am not busy with that, I have to find other things to do (cleaning, etc.) which is also very stressful for me.

I know I can't stay there, but I did need the income.

Anyway, I wasn't sure if I should have applied for medical EI, or regular EI - or if I go for medical, can I get regular if I can't go back to work?

I also wasn't sure if I should claim to be off work from the 22nd (Monday) when the note was written, and I handed it in - or the 26th, which is my last shift because they asked me to finish the week.

I tried to send a comment, but they wouldn't take my email to reply. I wanted to email, but there was no address. They had their phone number on the site, which I called (despite my phone anxiety which left me rocking bad) but it just told me to apply online.

I ended up applying starting the 22nd, thinking I should claim the 2 days pay I will make since then. I applied for medical EI because it was my psychiatrist and not my work that was the reason for leaving.

Also it asked for weeks of highest pay - only I get paid biweekly. How do I find out my highest weekly? It wouldn't be half, as some weeks I work a lot more than others.

I am really stressed out about all of this - as well as what job to look for when my leave runs out because my psychiatrist doesn't want me to go back working with the public (working with any people in the room/office is too much for me, really.)

Please help.

[PinkFlamingo99]

You might have to get a new note dated the 26th. They are very strict about that. You have to apply for medical EI as well, as the other one is for lay-offs, etc. i have been on and off medical EI a ton of times in the past few years. Once you run out, if you still can't work, you would have to apply for provincial social assistance (medical welfare).

Honestly every time I havd had to fill out my highest weeks, I guessed, and they never had a problem.

[AslansHow]

I can't get social assistance my husband works. We have to have my income, too, but it was under my doctors direction that I had to leave my job. I am not denying the effect it had on me, but I need that income.

Sent from my arc 7HD using Tapatalk

[AslansHow]

I don't see my psychiatrist for another 4 weeks, by then I would be denied my claim. This is really stressful.

Sent from my arc 7HD using Tapatalk

[PinkFlamingo99]

They'll usually put it through and ask for an updated letter later. EI isn't that strict. They will probably want one though.

Welfare is provincial not federal so I can't help much with that.

[healingme4me]

Originally Posted by AslansHow

I can't get social assistance my husband works. We have to have my income, too, but it was under my doctors direction that I had to leave my job. I am not denying the effect it had on me, but I need that income.

Sent from my arc 7HD using Tapatalk

Was it mandatory that you needed to allow your doctor's opinion to matter. That doesn't seem morally just to pull someone from work and leave them in a financial free fall.

[AslansHow]

Well it is now tourist season, and I work front desk in a motel. We are not only very busy (which is overwhelming for me) but we have had many strange (difficult) guests lately. The other hotels/motels have stopped taking cash and debit for payments, and so we get all those who have no credit card. Most of the time it is seniors or young people, who are fine, but we also get all those who wouldn't be accepted elsewhere.

I have had people scream at me, swear at me, come towards me in a threatening way... I have had to call the police to make someone leave, and threaten for others to call the police. There was a fight last weekend where one person was beat up pretty bad, and the room was trashed. There has been so much to increase my anxiety.

With my autism and social anxiety order alone I have trouble if people just ask me questions or make comments out of my routine. I fall apart with minor complaints, even if I can fix them. If the housekeepers forgot something, I feel extreme shame, and want to quit. If my routine is altered by anyone - especially without warning, or options - I become rigid and inflexible. The shift work (alternating several times even within one week) was something I could never regulate. I had trouble getting a routine, and had a lot of trouble sleeping. I was sick and exhausted all the time.

To begin with, my job has not been a good fit for all of the above reasons, but it is mostly routine, and I almost always work alone. As long as there were no surprises, I was able to do my job, and that is why I kept going back even knowing the fit was bad. I don't have the imagination to figure out what else I could do, even knowing this isn't right for me.

Within the past year, and especially within the past few weeks, we have had so many challenging people that my panic attacks about going to work, and while there, have become extreme. While I am at work, I am frozen to the office in fear, and unable to do all but the basics of my job.

No, she was right to tell me she needed me out of there in order to be able to help me with the rest - but always before when I can't stay somewhere, I find another alternative before I end up in full meltdown, so it doesn't appear so much as a failure.

Last time I went to a government funded trades program, which appeared positive until I went into the work force and was incapable of working in a construction setting (for sensory issues and very low energy.)

I know she was right - but I need all the details or my severe anxiety goes into constant panic. That is where I am now. I don't know what to expect. I need someone not only to support me, and tell me it will be okay (as I have with my husband) but to take me step by step through it and tell me what to do.

I have above average intelligence, but when I am panicked, I can't think.

[Perna]

AslansHow, does your psychiatrist have a social worker or other kind office clerk who could help you with the form? Or is there an EI office close you can go into and have them help you with the form, take most of your pay stubs so they can see the problems and help you guesstimate the amounts, etc.?

Are you planning to go back to that place of work? I would not have said "yes" to finishing out the week the way this week went, sounds like a horrendous place to work for anyone; I'm sorry you need the money that badly.

[AslansHow]

We only have 1 person on front desk at a time, and front desk people also have housekeeping shifts. It causes huge problems and sometimes people have to take 16 hour shifts if someone suddenly doesn't come in. I have hated when other people have done that to me, and I couldn't do that to them. Last time I left, I gave 3 months notice and still felt bad.

I like the owners, the manager, and the others who work there. The majority of guests are fine. Just like anywhere else, there might be 1 person in a thousand who is horrible. I have had maybe 6 or 7 really bad guests that I have personally had to deal with in 3 years - but with my extreme social and emotional issues, I can't get past them like others can. Also, 5 of those 7 people have been in the last 6 months, and 2 in the last 3 weeks.

That is why things are so bad now - besides the fact I just got in to see the psychiatrist the first time not 4 weeks ago, and we are starting to deal with some pretty severe traumas (the causes of my ptsd) as well. And I have just got my autism diagnosis among other diagnosis to think about. It is a lot at once.

I have a counselor I will see in a week, and she is supposed to try to help me get disability - also at the recommendation of my psychiatrist.