Sick of work
One of the aspects of work that used to piss me off was the doctor’s certificate.
I would come down with some bug or other and if it lasted more than a couple of days I had to go crawling to a doctor somewhere, even though I knew he couldn’t help my prevailing condition, to simply get him to sign a note saying I was unfit for work. It was tedious and expensive and probably made my condition worse by dragging me out into the cold.
That nasty little aspect of life disappeared the day I left RTE. In fact on my very last day I availed of that freedom by falling down a flight of stairs and ending up in hospital. I celebrated my freedom by not having to ask the hospital for a sick note.
With a strange twist in fate, since I left there have only been a couple of occasions where I might have needed a cert if I had still been employed. I have had the odd sniffle and cough but nothing remarkable, and certainly nothing to make me change any of my daily routines. So when I was employed I used to have quite a few certs every year, yet I might have had only a couple in the last sixteen years. It doesn’t say much for a healthy workplace?
Anyhows I am availing of my freedom to not produce certs today.
No, I don’t have the flu or anything like that [a bit of a headache, a few aching limbs, nothing that I don’t have most days]. My problem today [and yesterday] is that my brain has ceased to function. It is somehow stuck in neutral. It’s not depression. It’s not apathy. It’s a blank refusal to think about anything. My normal life is utterly disrupted, to the extent that I put the sugar into the fridge after making tea, or buy something in the shops that I have loads of but had forgotten about, or accidentally leaving the cat out all night. Though on second thoughts that last one might have been deliberate.
One of the casualties of this Doldrum condition is that I can’t write anything. The material is there in abundance, but when I get around to musing up a brainfart, the head suddenly reformats itself and not only do I forget what I was going to write, but I also forget what I was even going to write about.
So I’m going on sick-leave until the brain wakes up.
And if you want a certificate, yiz can feck off!
accidentally leaving the cat out all night.
Accidentally? Yeah , right, sure I believe you…whether Herself will is another matter..
When her poor liddle baby has pneumonia…..
As to the rest, to your ‘brain death’, we call that ‘Alzheimer’ and it is a sign from God that you should start to inhale your pipe not just waste all that lovely brain-protecting Vitamin N by puffing it around the room. Your need is greater than that of Herself or the pets. Long deep drags, take it down and tell me it was goooood, girl….ahhh wrong phrase but you get the drift.
Am doing as instructed. I also have an order in for a good supply of weed. At least, I think I put in an order……..
Welcome to the new world of chemtrail HAARP brain fog. I have had the same condtion for years now. Until they stop poisoning us, we won’t get much better.
Welcome Cindy! I think a far more down to earth [if you’ll pardon the expression?] reason is a combination of ME/CFS combined with a lack of decent sleep and a ton of extra responsibilities in recent times.
In other words, what I really need is a damn good holiday!
“CFS”
The Great British National Health system (gawd bless ‘er, envy of the world she is) have found a cure for CFS. If you or your GP thinks you may have CFS you have to attend a CFS clinic for a diagnosis….in my case some 25 ‘Norfolk miles’* away. Amazing how many people who think they might have CFS suddenly find they don’t need to attend the clinic (evil do-gooder tongues will of course maintain that the mere notion of a hour’s driving through the city is more than any genuine CFSer can manage but we all know that CFS is just a made up ‘syndrome’ to con The Great British Public out of it’s hard worked for money).
*Norfolk Miles: there is probably a rural Irish equivalent , a Norfolk mile is that signpost in the middle of nowhere that reads “Upper Colostomy Bag Magna 1 mile” -which it was until the Black Death after which the entire village moved 2 miles to ‘clean’ and sanctified ground.
I have no intention of travelling to Norfolk. By the sound of it, suffering any ailment would be preferable.
You guys slay me. Having suffered from ME/CFS fibro etc. for about forty years off and on, I have come to the conclusion that it is just another bravo sierra diagnosis (along with GAD). Right now I am suffering through extreme poisitonal vertigo. When do the demons stop! We all need (as you say) a holiday. Been reading for years, just never really spoke up before. Love all your head rambles. Came for your position on tabackky. Stayed for the sheer joy of your prose. Bless you for keeping me sane.
On the ME/CFIDS/Fibro front, this article pulling apart the problems of the PACE study is well worth a read: http://www.virology.ws/2015/10/21/trial-by-error-i/
I’m certain it’s a real illness (and I so sympathise with the constant vertigo!), but I don’t think they know what it actually is yet, much less how to treat it.
Damn! I was forever being whacked over the knuckles in English class for my use of my prose. Maybe times have just caught up with me?
As for ME/CFS/Fibro – I gave up worrying about that years ago as I decided there was nowt could be done so it became like the Tinnitus – I just get used to it and ignore it.
My normal life is utterly disrupted, to the extent that I put the sugar into the fridge after making tea,
You mean that it isn’t normal to do stuff like that? Shit GD you’ve got me worried now.
I have also noticed the same thing as you. I firmly believe that the workplace is one of the worst places to be if you want to be healthy. After retiring five years ago, I have not been sick for even a single day. If an employer would stop making an employee’s absence a big deal, people would stay home if they’re sick. Not bringing they’re sickness to work and infecting others would make others at work less likely to get sick. Therefore it’s a case of an employer’s sick note policy backfiring and defeating his original purpose of curbing absenteeism.
I discovered the perfect remedy for sickness at work. I became self-employed!
Joking aside, I have heard the same from many who have become Self Employed. And you can take my word on this one: going on benefits is even better for your health. My own CFS disappeared overnight, along with the migraines etc when I persuaded (ok, ‘blackmailed’) my boss into sacking me in such a way as I could claim benefits (this was a long time back and in a country not our own). All the worry and the stress melted away, suddenly i could sleep again. I felt soooo much better I would have paid to go on the dole!
The obvious reason is that employment almost inevitably involves meeting other people. The more people you meet, the greater chance of catching something. The Grandkids are a right bugger for bringing colds and other shit into the house.