... or maybe, it already happened.
Since 5 years, I work in this big global pharma company, located in Germany. Today is the first time, that I went to my mental doctor to ask him to set me free from work, because of extreme mental stress. Without hessitation, he asked me, If I'd be ok with 2 weeks. 3 days where fine, because then, I'm on vacation with my wife for three weeks.
However, he stated, I need to change something, otherwise this won't end up well.
What can I do? All the people, leaving the department I'm working in are not replaced by new colleges. The workload increases more and more. Because of many KPI being tracked, micromanagement is being applied to every step. Last week, it was announced, that we all need to work 4h a week more for 2 months the cope with the backlog.
I really need to get more aware for my body and mind, when a certain threshold of permanent stress is being exhausted. But how can I do that? I cannot change the broke and toxic system, but I need to change my mindset on how to attent to my work and the impact of errors on my emotional state. I cannot relax in my freetime after work- nor at the weekend. In the office, I,m on the brinck of a panick attack, when QA identifies deviations are studies need to be repeated and the report cannot be sent in time.
So ... what can I do, to not further harm my mental well being in this work environment?
Cheers!