ive been told from the beginning of my employment that mental health days arent a thing here. i get that, this is a maintenance department in oklahoma and no one here probably thinks mental illness even exists. but my hours are cutting me off from care that i need, and my job is often killing me more often than it helps. ive been seeing my therapist for a couple months, and hes finally determined that i need to see a psychiatrist for sure because i,m having psychotic symptoms that seem to be worsening and he suspects i have schizoaffective disorder. the place he referred me to only operated frm 8am to 3pm -- i work from 7:30am to 4pm. this has been a problem in the past. almost everywhere in my area is completely inaccessible on my work hours.

my point im trying to get to, before i go off on any further tangents: is it ok to take sick leave for a psychiatric evaluation? is the sour feeling in my stomach at the thought of taking leave for mental help just my own internalized ableism ? or is it really so tacky and i should just try to find somewhere else? though like i said i run into the same road block nearly everywhere

also i cant drive so trying to get anywhere basically becomes a day trip.

[arnie91]

I know that exact sick feeling in your stomach you're talking about. I do feel like you should take care of yourself first and foremost. It wouldn't hurt to look into other places to see if they have hours that work better for you. If you can't find anything I would think that taking a day to go see a psychiatrist is acceptable because if you don't take care of your mental health you won't be able to properly focus at work the way your employer needs you to.

[guilloche]

Originally Posted by psycho mantis

my point im trying to get to, before i go off on any further tangents: is it ok to take sick leave for a psychiatric evaluation?

Yes, absolutely in my opinion. I think you need to find out what your options are for work... taking sick leave for the evaluation should be fine, but if you have to go for regular appointments (even for regular therapy), you'll need a way to work that out with your manager, b/c you probably don't have enough sick leave to be gone every week (right?).

My opinion - if you talk to your manager, you do NOT have to disclose that this is for mental health treatment. Although, my guess is that when they said "no mental health days", what they meant was the way people joke about taking sick time because they mentally need a break from work, not actually time to see their psychiatrist.

A psychiatrist is a doctor. You have a doctor's appointment. If people at work ask you what it's for, you tell them... "I'm having some health problems that need to be evaluated." If they keep pressing (they shouldn't) you can tell them, "I'm not really comfortable discussing it. It's personal. Thanks though for your concern." - then switch the topic. Ask them about work, their family, sports, weather, whatever... you want to change the topic to signal that the conversation is over.

I hope you can work it out. It's really unfair that trying to get mental health care can be so difficult when you have to negotiate the time away with your workplace Because, mental health stuff is already hard enough without pressure from our jobs!

Good luck, and I hope the visit to the psychiatrist goes well for you, and you're able to arrange transportation!

[mazing]

I definitely agree that taking a sick day is justified - a psychiatrist is a doctor and mental illness is still a health issue that impacts on work. I also agree that your boss and colleagues doesn't need all the details. At most they can ask for a medical certificate to prove that you saw a medical professional and that would only give the doctors name, the date off and a comment about why you were off work (eg. 'unable to work on [date] due to medical assessment / treatment / illness').

I hope it all goes well!

thanks everyone, i got up the nerve to ask yesterday. no mention of mental illness, only that i needed to see a "specialist" in the city. had my first visit today and i'll be back next week.

[guilloche]

I'm really glad you were able to get the time that you needed to see the doctor! I hope your evaluation goes well!

[growlycat]

The HR magic words are "reasonable accommodations " (to go to dr.'s appointments)
that will get their attentions

Reasonable Accommodations in the Workplace Fact Sheet | Pub #F067.01

oh my god thank you so much for the legal side growlycat i found similar documents for oklahoma that are much wordier but if my reading comprehension isn't completely failing me i think it's pretty much the same.