Currently signed off sick due to anxiety. Work has arranged a welfare meeting.
Hi all. I’ve been off work sick due to anxiety. I’ve been dealing with it more or less for past year but it got much worse after being placed on a performance improvement plan (which they stated will last for 3 months) at work. I nearly collapsed at work on the day of that meeting (the shock of it, I suppose) and put people around me in danger by doing so, so I sought help from the GP who offered this option in addition to medications. It’s been almost two months and Im slowly feeling a bit better, and I’ve one more month of sick note.
My work sent in an email 3 days ago and scheduled a wellness meeting for tomorrow. They’ve been asking questions about my sickness and stuff in meanwhile but I kept my information very minimal (I did not want anyone knowing I started medications for mental health, my work place can be gossipy and I didn’t want it going around). I’ve requested some accommodations for this meeting as the email has sent me on a loop again and I’m basically a mess again since the email. I’ve yet to hear a response and the thought of physically attending that office again is making me sick. On top of that the new medication I’m trialling makes is making me super drowsy and foggy minded and I as it is fumble like an idiot when anxious, but now I honestly don’t know what to expect.
I’ve requested that we review the possibility of the meeting for a couple of weeks later once my meds kick in and at-least I’m not sleepy and foggy but I’ve not heard a response. I was intending to take my partner for support if they postponed the meeting but if it’s tomorrow my partner cannot join me either. Everything online suggests I attend this meeting when everything in me is screaming not to. I know a wellness meeting is to see if there are any accommodations they could make or stuff, but I’m honestly at a loss for ideas because it’s literally the first time my anxiety is in such a peak.
What can I expect in this meeting? Is this normal HR stuff? I don’t even know what I’m expecting to know by posting here..