oceans deep

My team leader is cracking up. It’s our busiest time of the year at work so she has been under some pressure which she doesn’t seem to be dealing with too well… Other folk at work outside our team have picked up on it too. She looks like she’s about to cry, is very abrupt with people, disappears for short spells at work, makes silly mistakes she wouldn’t normally make and just generally looks like she isn’t doing too well.

The original approach that we adopted was a ‘give-it-time-do-nothing’. Perhaps unsurprisingly the do-nothing approach did nothing… Next step involved bring cake into work. Cuz, ya know, food makes everything better. Oh, the irony of me, the person who kicks food consumption to the curb at the first sign of mental hard times, trying to make it all better with food! My team leader smiled and looked like she was about to cry. Which was an improvement on just looking like she was about to cry but only marginally. We reverted to the ‘do-nothing’ approach based on the fact that the crazy busy time was drawing to an end and there hadn’t been any major catastrophes so maybe that would make her feel better? But so far this has achieved nothing and it’s been almost a month now… So I’ve been nominated to approach the department manager to discuss our concerns. Because we don’t know what else to do. Our team leader isn’t a very social person, I’ve tried asking how she’s doing and she just replies with the superficial social norms of our society. So we’re passing it on. Which I feel guilty about, in a way it feels like telling tales, but we’re doing it to try and help her…

I’ve had mental health issues before, but I’m ‘lucky’ in that I can carry on and fake life most of the time. I can roll into work after an hours sleep with a stinking hangover and put in a days work. I know this because I’ve done this many times during bad spells. However down I’m feeling I can still drag myself into work at the right time and do what I’m paid to do. And I would hate for people to notice and hate even more for anyone to say anything. So I feel incredibly guilty going to the department manager but I want our team leader to get the support and help that she needs and for life to be easier for her. I’m leaving in ten minutes. Eep!

I hope I’m doing the right thing…..