Heartbreak’s ho? Tell …
How do you deal with emotional turmoil at work? Not turmoil about work, but personal stuff. BAD stuff.
You know what I’m talking about. When something has your heart hurting so bad you are sick with the pain. You’re so sad, so?down that you feel physical pain as well. It’s like the flu. You ache all over, and functioning is a struggle. You want to crawl into bed, hide under the covers and cry it all out. But you can’t, because you have to go to work.
How do you get through the day? Sure, sometimes you can shove those feelings aside to deal with later, but not always. Sometimes they’re just too damn strong, too fresh, too raw. What do you do then, to keep from collapsing into a weepy pile of angst right in the middle of the staff meeting? How do you comfort yourself until you can get home to the loving embrace of your?Scooby-Doo jammies, and?a?dose of?those big ole heartache pills with the white M on them?
How do you do it?
UPDATE: Thank you all for your concern. I made it through by keeping my office door shut most of the day (I had a lot of typing to do, so I actually had a good excuse), and by cutting myself a break from expecting my usual productivity level. My best-work-friend must have seen through my ruse, because she left a bag of Dark Chocolate M&Ms on my desk while I was in the bathroom, with a Post-It that said, “Sometimes we find clarity in the Darkness.” I didn’t find clarity (if only it were that easy!), but took comfort from the gesture. The chocolate didn’t hurt, either!
[tags]Depression, coping[/tags]
September 4th, 2007 at 2:53 pm
Hi Hon. This post has me worried. Is it a hypothetical? A question-for-a-friend-that-you-need-help-answering? An I’ve-gone-through-this-before-and-I-want-to-deal-with-it-better-next-time? Or is this a real-bad, real-time situation?
You know me, anyway, Ms. Control At Any Cost. The worst is when you’re having one of those dam-threatening-to-break days and someone looks at you with sympathy, asks how you’re doing and ACTUALLY SEEMS TO CARE. It’s rarely in a venue where you can throw yourself on their shoulder and sob your troubles out. It really makes it worse instead of better. I mean, I appreciate the concern, but the LAST thing I want is to lose the last tiny bit of dignity I have left by melting into mush in the middle of the office.
It’s a no-win situation. I cry in the shower while getting ready for work. Or in the car on my way home from work. And, in-between, I’m just hoping the walls don’t come tumblin’ down.
September 4th, 2007 at 3:51 pm
oh man…i’ve been there and it is brutal. i can’t hide how i feel, especially when i am torn up about something. i’ve cried in my boss’s office when she’s asked me a simple, “how are you?” but luckily she’s cool and we’re friendly enough to talk about that stuff. if you can, i say call in sick until the worst of it passes. emotional health affects physical health. take care of you. hugs.
September 4th, 2007 at 8:46 pm
I can’t hide my emotions either. I agree with Sizzle, if you can call in sick, then do it. I’m really sorry you’re hurting. I’m thinking of you.
September 5th, 2007 at 6:36 am
The only way I can avoid crying is to immerse myself in work and lose my thoughts… but if I pause for a second, it comes back to me. I hope you are okay.
September 5th, 2007 at 8:02 am
Thank you, my friends! Please see the Update above.
What doesn’t kill me, makes me stronger.
September 5th, 2007 at 10:00 am
I know that I am late but…I just go in to the bathroom and cry when I need to. I really don’t cry loudly at all so it seems to work. It’s a hard thing to master and I don’t know how people actually do it 100%.
September 5th, 2007 at 1:59 pm
I’d feel a bit more comfortable “letting it out” at work if I wasn’t STILL working on getting hired permanently. The last thing I need is for the boss to decide I’m too emotional for this subdued office! Which is also why I didn’t want to call in sick.
September 9th, 2007 at 5:55 pm
I’m late to the gate on this one too…Big hugs…
I try and get to the bathroom if I’m going to cry at work. At least I can close the door on the stall and have some semblance of privacy for a bit…
September 10th, 2007 at 6:32 am
Suze: My office actually has TWO restrooms that are single-seaters, so when I need total privacy I can get it. It’s the unexpected, sudden onsets of weeping that I worry about.