Has anyone been off work for depression

[Amara 94]

What benefits did you get?

I’m thinking of this because I notice when I’m off work I literally do nothing and feel depressed but my job really doesn’t make me feel better or even function better. It’s more of a way of ignoring that I’m depressed and need some changes in my life.

As I’ve posted lots of times recently I feel my job is a bad fit for me and I haven’t been in jobs that are a good fit for me most times. But a very obvious obstacle also seems to be a lack of confidence, possibly depression to finding a good job and taking the steps to find a better job and improve my lifestyle. It’s like I live by fear.

[Dougella]

Your doctor could sign you off for something like a couple of weeks, and you might get statuary sick pay during that time (depending on what your job is, whether you have a permanent contract etc.)

If you're thinking more long term you would need to apply for ESA (or probably universal credit in most areas now) and again you would need to be signed off by your doctor and you would have to be able to demonstrate that your depression (or all your conditions as a whole) are making it so that you are unable to work at all. You then have to go to an assessment (or sometimes they are doing them over the phone at the moment) and a decision maker will decide whether you qualify for the benefit after that.

It might be worth going to your GP and talking this through anyway, to see what they might be able to offer to help with your depression.

[Hayman]

I've been off once with depression – but that was in my old job back in 2010 just before I was made redundant – which one of the reasons I was off was because I could see it coming for about twelve months and it was always denied.

I was initially signed off for two weeks which was then subsequently extended by a further two weeks. I rarely left the house and spent much of that time dozing during the day.

From what I can remember, all I received was the standard Statutory Sick Pay. I never sought further financial help or was aware something like that may be or have been available for people in that position.