10 Best Tips to Survive Your Breakdown
Author: Peter IBBETT

I had been 26 years in the front line, half of them in the vital interface of Head of Department in a secondary school. I was one of those cheerful ever present cogs in the system doing his bit to keep the machinery in motion when I suffered a catastrophic breakdown. It was over a week before my family reclaimed me from the NHS. Two months on and I am still off work awaiting an Occupational Health report on my future.

All machinery needs regular maintainance and occasional refits. This cog had been working beyond its limits for too long in a machine being upgraded at ever increasing frequencies with no regular checks on its performance.

You are on your Own.

Hospitals are not places for good sleep and calm reflection. A lack of physical causes for a collapse is very frustrating to doctors who expect that the results of the next test will provide the definitive answer. Neurologists have a wider view of a healthy human being but are only allowed to voice an opinion after physical tests have finished. The thing that I needed most was to get some real sleep and rest at home. There was no point in trying to think about the situation. I had no physical or mental energy.

As your system begins to recover there is a real danger time as your mind starts to analyse the trauma of being ripped away from your job and the possible future consequences.

That is when professional support is vital. A phone call from a Support Unit to check on me and to guide me forward from a confused state of mind would have mattered. A person who has suddenly gone under needs a lifeline to hold onto and guide him to the shore.

But there was none. Support from home and close collegues but nothing at a critical period from anyone else to provide professional support. So the first thing to realise is that you are on your own and will have to sort out your own survivial by yourself. No one is going to coordinate your recovery but yourself. And that needs some experienced input. So be determined to find it. But first:-

Survival Tips.

1. Set an agenda. Write down 2 things that would help you now:-

a) Why did stress cause my brain to lapse into a coma?
b) How do I move forward from here?

2. Pick up the phone and get answers.

a) Keep trying until you find someone that you are happy with. Try union reps, lea and local helplines. Do one a day.
b) Teacherhelp line was excellent. And they kept in contact.

3. See your Doctor.
a) Avoid pills. You are normally better off without.
b) Look for other sources of help at the surgery:- eg books.

4. Read about it.

a) Go to library/internet and find information on the main questions that concern you. b) Discuss it with family and friends.
< br> 5. Start a Recovery File. Find an old file and start the following sections:-
a) Daily Health Notes. Keep a record of ups and downs.
b) Recovery. List goals and log progress via task sheets.
c) Self Improvement. Keep a section on personal evaluation.
Improvement Newsletter (www.selfgrowth.com)
d) Quotes of the day. Put a quote on the fridge. Keep a record.
e) Health Plan. Find a health plan and use the relevant parts.
f) Professional Development. Use time to catch up on those articles you meant to read or web sites you never had time to investigate.

6. Regular exercise. Get out and walk/cycle/jog. Don¹t forget to exercise the brain! Crosswords/scrabble/chess/card games.

7. Variety. Plan five or six different activities in a day.

8. Time out. Take a day off a week from recovery! Go shopping, visit a museum, lie all day listening to Radio 4.

9. Keep in Contact. Make sure you keep in touch with as many people as possible.

10. Be patient! It takes time. More time than you would think.

Every one is different.

It helped me but your situation will be different and you will have different needs. But do set an agenda for yourself, review its impact and revise it in the light of your experiences.

Campaign.

Don¹t keep your experiences to yourself once you get back into circulation. Work for a better understanding of workplace stress and improved support systems. No one should ever have to go through your experience.

³Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising every time we fall.?

Confucius BC 551-479








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pjibbett@aol.com

Head of Science in an 11-16 Community College in Cambridgeshire, England.

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