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Those of you who work - what is your job?

illustrated.lady

If you don't want to read and would just like to answer the question then thank you - feel free to skip Slight smile

I suppose I'm looking for some inspiration.

In what is a familiar story for many, I am completely burnt out from my work, struggling to cope in an office environment and really just feeling at a loss of what to do. 

A bit of background on me for anyone interested - I'm fairly intelligent and well educated (BSc Psychology and Criminology, MA Sociology - graduated 2018) but I have never been able to transfer this over to the workplace, I have ended up off sick with stress/anxiety/overwhelm in every job I've had and the longest I have lasted in any job is my current three years.

My jobs have included - 

Food service

Retail

Care (elderly, dementia, mental health)

Call Centre

Medical reception/admin/secretarial (current job)

I have worked all hours from 12 hour days, 12 hour mights, 9-5, full time, part time, zero hour contract. I always end up burnt out. 

Ultimately, I have to work and ideally full time. Office work is a struggle because there's people there, constantly with their smells and their noises and their conversation. 

As much as I loved elderly care, I think my sense of justice made it too difficult to overlook the poor management that understaff care homes in order to make as much money as possible. 

I just don't know what to do, I don't need to find a dream job, I just need something I can do and go home and not feel like all my energy has been drained. 

Any ideas, comments, suggestions, all are appreciated.

Parents

  • I am a pharmacy dispenser and have been for the last 20 years. It took me absolutely ages to settle into the role. It is quite busy and varied but it also has structure and routine. Maybe this is why I've stayed so long it suits my AUDHD.

    I have also just qualified as a Complementary Therapist. I would like to move into this area of work. Unfortunately i've been qualified since April this year and I've still not got started. Autistic inertia maybe.

    Thinking

  • in reply to Lonehare12

    Thinking indeed  

    Before moving into therapy professionally my family and friends benefited (?!?! :-)  ) from my skills.  Are you planning to be mobile of have a fixed base to work from?  I personally find the tricky things are generating contacts with potential clients and then the to me weird thing of charging people to help them.  I got around both of those by being employed by the NHS Initially in society healers appear to have been deeply connected to religious organisations - it might be said that this was because of models of spirituality involved in explaining health/ill health.  Personally I think that the religious organisation may have been a work around for getting clients and the necessary social support (food and shelter etc.).  So maybe you are experiencing autisitc inertia or maybe your experiencing the misfit of how society runs these days?  Maybe if there is a "therapists collective" or similar locally there might be others to join with in your new work?

  • in reply to Phased

    Thankyou so much for this information. It's given me something to think about.

    I have a treatment room at home which I needed during the course for all my case studies. Now it is just there, empty and redundant. Every time I go in there, my heart sinks and I start to berate myself. I know confidence is an issue also. 

    Thank you again for taking the time to respond, it is really appreciated :⁠-⁠)

Reply
  • in reply to Phased

    Thankyou so much for this information. It's given me something to think about.

    I have a treatment room at home which I needed during the course for all my case studies. Now it is just there, empty and redundant. Every time I go in there, my heart sinks and I start to berate myself. I know confidence is an issue also. 

    Thank you again for taking the time to respond, it is really appreciated :⁠-⁠)

Children
  • in reply to Lonehare12

    Hi  - I came back to this post as someone new had posted - looking back over our chat I realised that you never mentioned what sort of complimentary therapy you qualified in.  Hehe not sure if just being nosy, wanting to see how you are doing in that (or both!) but I would like to ask what sort of complimentary therapy you trained in?  For info I have a background in movement from both the "complimentary" Traditional Chinese Medicine ( Qigong -Taoist yoga mainly...) as well as western allied health profession training...

  • in reply to Phased

    Hi 

    Of course, it's great that you have another thought. 

    I am my hardest critic, that is true, but I am working it.

    Fortunately my therapy room is clutter free, apart from the obvious things that are required. Sometimes I just go in there and lay on the massage table and look at the trees. It's like a little oasis, probably similar to your escape room.

    Thanks for offering support, I really appreciate it. I find it a bit difficult to reach out sometimes, but it’s nice to know you’re open to talking.  

    Slight smile

  • in reply to Lonehare12

    I have another thought if it's Ok?  I too have a "treatment room" at home.  It is now generally considered to be "my room" by my family.  It has been a bit of an "escape room" in a few senses too - one I can escape to and also one that when coming out of burnout I have found myself from gradually escaping from too.  It has also become something of  a "I'll put it there until... " room too.  It's hard not to be one's hardest critic sometimes.  If able to reframe circumstances sometimes an alternate perspective can be found.  If you want someone to talk to about experiences of being a therapist I'm here too if you want :-)