former bed side nurse here on sick leave till the end of the month. I should start my new job away from patients with normal working hours on October 1st.
I feel drained, even though I eat and sleep well, the best I’ve slept in months, my circadian rhythm is that of a normal human being, I can cook, go shopping, I even play some hobbies now.
Nobody yells at me or makes passive aggressive or backhanded remarks for me to hear.
The 1st. of October is a week away and I don’t believe I’ll be a fully functioning human being by then, most probably I’ll ask for a 2 week sick leave extension.
what worked for you to go back to your normal self?
One of the things that I took from therapy was to stop and really consider how much influence I had over specific outcomes and then dive even more deeply into how much influence I had over specific outcomes at specific points in time.
I might have 85% control over x component of my job generally while I’m physically present. But do I have any control over it at 3AM while I’m at home? No, there’s 0% control and not way to change that, it’s better to save my energy to deal with it in the near future than stressing/ruminating about it right now.
This is a result of 3 rounds of therapy each running about 3 years, one of them including group mindfulness meditation followed by group therapy in addition to individual therapy. It’s not easy, but it is possible. I also strongly believe it’s worth it.