Acute Clinical depression

[dot.hawkes]

A woman i know has been a pain in the neck at work and caused alot of upset and problems for the staff, an official letter of grievance was sent into the H/O and after a month the area manager arranged to visit and put the allegations of bullying, aggression and violence to this woman.
She did not turn up for the interview and didn't ring in to explain her absence.
today she rang in in tears and said her head was all over the place and she was going to see someone.
later she rang again and said she has acute clinical depression, but she would probably be in on monday.
What exactly is clinical depression and can you predict when you will recover?

[lindapinda]

She will be well on the road to her recovery,by the time she has brought a claim for harassment by management,Dot!!

[andy-hughes]

Clinical depression results from a chemical imbalance in the brain, which causes mood swings, lethargy, feelings of self-loathing, and general bad behavioue. Reactive depresion is, as the name suggests, caused by a traumatic event, either recent, or subconciously revived from the past - the symptoms are the same.

Both respond to medication and counselling, the recovery times vary depending on the individual, and the severity of the condition. The first step is the sufferer realising they need help, and receiving medication and / or counselling as deemed appropriate by their doctor.

You need to be patient with your colleague - a major symptom of depression is a severse sense of worthlessness and self-loathing, which often makes the sufferer try to make others dislike them as much as they are disliking themselves. It is involuntary, and it is part of the condition, so please advise anyone who is in contact with this lady about the situation, and hopefully she will recover in time.

[Dollie]

Hello Dot
Yes, Andy is correct - acute clinical depression is often a long-term condition which is why it surprises me that she says she will be in on Monday. People suffering from this often have some accompanying phobia and they often can barely get out of bed let alone go into work. Unlike manic depression ( or Bi-Polar disorder to give it its 'new' name) with manic depression you can be upbeat one day and the next day in the depths of despair and unable to speak to anyone - its dreadful and anyone suffering is to be pitied. Similarly, anyone with full-blown clinical depression needs a lot of help - often medication - and psychological support. People with this condition are referred to me from time to time and its never an easy road to walk with them. If your colleague does in fact have clinical depression I doubt she'll be in work for some time - and I'm guessing that her GP has given her this formal diagnosis ? Doll x

[DotH]

well dollie she apparently did go to the GP on wednesday and he apparently told her then and there she had this condition, but he did not appaently give her a sick note and so she says she will do a 7 day self cert. Funny that, i would have thought the GP would have given her a sick note.
It is also odd that the day before she found out that she was to be potentially interviewed and disciplined she was right as rain apart from the bullying abuse and aggression she was showing towards the staff.

[Dollie]

Dot - I smell a rat - I work as a psychotherapist within the NHS and any GP worth his salt would not leave a patient with such a diagnosis without offering to refer them on to a clinical psychologist or at least offer some counselling. If she simply had a diagnosis of depression then he would likely offer some medication, a short-term sick note if the patient requests it and a routine follow up in about a months time for him to assess if her condition had improved or not. Clinical depression is considered to be more damaging than depression - its not as easy to self-rectify and a GP would likely want to cover himself by referring on to a psychologist, psychotherapist or psychiatrist at the local hospital. Certainly thats my understanding. Clinical depression IS NOT simply depression - it is an extreme form or an already distressing mental illness. Having said all that - any form of depression will cause extreme mood swings as Andy says.

[DotH]

Cheers for that, does it make you bad tempered, violent and incapable of speaking to people in a reasonable and professional manner?

[Dollie]

Lol - yes I'm afraid it can do Dot - the most mild mannered person can become a monster when suffering from any kind of depression. Certainly aggression and violence could be attributed to depression - not so sure about the bullying though as that takes a lot of thought and strategy on the part of the bully - not easy to plan if you are depressed ! That said - as depression is very hard to diagnose correctly (unlike a broken bone whidh you can see etc.) it is often used as an excuse for bad behaviour - particularly in work situations. I have sat in on a few disciplinaries in the past where an employee has blamed their bad behaviour on their poor mental and it takes an astute team of managers to ascertain whether or not their pleas are genuine. If your lady 'will probably be in on Monday' then I doubt she truly has clinical depression.

[andy-hughes]

I can confirm what Dollie has said.

I suffered a complete breakdown sixteen years ago, and far from being back at work, I was away for nine months, which included a three month stay in a psychiatric hospital.

I appreciate my behaviour was appalling at times - it's a little like being drunk, you know you are behaving badly, but you can't redally stop it, but I certainly would never have been capable of bullying anyone! By the time I was diagnosed I was so ill I couldn;t remember how to make tea, and I had to be told to eat, so being at work giving people a ahrd time would have been out of the question - I just wanted to be left alone.