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1) more people are struggling than you can tell. Most people are trying to hide it because there is still a stigma with mental health in our society 2) have you told your directors/partners about it? Most of them will be very supportive - some will be assholes
Public accounting model is broken
If you need time off, take it. If the job is bad get a new one. Prioritize your health.
You can take a stress leave of absence. It’s protected, it goes through as disability. You just need your doctor to sign off. It was a great reset for me. There are also group counseling sessions out there on managing work stress. It puts a little bit into perspective. I attended some of the meetings and public accounting is so much worse than everyone else’s job from an expectation standpoint. Like people were getting upset about working till 6pm but we’re over here working through till 6am and sleeping 3 hours. Point being, we’re bonkers for doing these things no one else is doing and there’s no need to. No one is going to die if we don’t file some report. The firm will not burn down if we take a vacation and sleep 8 hours. We have to set the boundaries and hold to them.
Yes, there is a real problem. And as a whole, accountants are risk-averse so are less likely to leave public. I left for industry and my quality of life is so much better. Rarely work overtime and if I do it's just a few hours.
If you need time off work, you can see a doctor and get FMLA. This could allow you time to see a psychiatrist/therapist, decompress, and focus on finding healthy ways to manage the stress. Most firms offer free sessions of TalkSpace or something similar that are helpful. I usually talk to a couple partners that I’m close to when I’m feeling overwhelmed. Sometimes they provide a change of perspective and sometimes they can help fix my workload. You got this and you’re not alone. 💙
If you search mental health in fish bowl, twitter, and reddit, you will see there many proponents trying to bring awareness to the industry. That is how many people can attest or confirm that this is REAL
and you are not alone.