Sometimes things aren’t what they seem.
A couple of years ago I started experiencing classic burnout symptoms, like exhaustion, brain fog and lack of concentration. I had been burned out during a corporate merger about 15 years before, and the symptoms were similar — at first.
As a benefits professional in a post-coronavirus pandemic world, I had read the headlines and was acutely aware of the toll this global event had taken on many Canadians. So, I did what most others were doing at the time, which was to ignore and mask my symptoms and hope they would simply fade away in time.
Read: 2024 Mental Health Summit: Early intervention, integrated solutions key to managing disability
When that didn’t work, I tried professional counselling, which led to some changes to reduce stress, focus on self-care and bring more balance to my life. But none of these things seemed to improve my primary symptoms.
And then things started getting weird. In addition to the cognitive issues I had been experiencing, I started having unusual physical symptoms. Some of the first noticeable symptoms were significant reductions in typing speed and accuracy. Then I became clumsy, tripping more often and dragging my foot when I walked, followed by a loss of strength and coordination mostly on the right side of my body. I remember swimming and how the right side of my body felt oddly different in the water like never before.
On the advice of my psychologist and with the support of my primary care physician, I consented to take some time away from work. During this time, my short-term disability insurer was very supportive and provided the resources of a psychologist and occupational therapist without having to exhaust these benefits under my extended health-care plan. After four months off, I had made some improvements.
I was no longer fatigued and brain exercises and weight training were helping to lessen the cognitive and strength issues I was having, so it seemed like there was nothing left to do but attempt a return to work. Having extensively researched the mind-body connection, I believed my lingering symptoms were related to mental issues and thought these would resolve over time with meditation and Jedi mind tricks.
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I returned to work with an abundance of support from my employer, leaders and work colleagues but despite my best efforts, my symptoms weren’t resolving like I had hoped. I was struggling to do very basic tasks that I had previously been able to do in a fraction of the time and express myself verbally. That’s when my wife accompanied me to my doctor and advocated for a scan of my brain.
A few weeks following, CT and MRI scans revealed that a tumour had been growing slowly beneath my skull atop of the left hemisphere of my brain for likely 10 years or more. It had finally reached a size where it was starting to severely impact the motor skills on the right side of my body in addition to my cognitive functioning. While frightening, the evidence was irrefutable and convinced me there was nothing I could do that was going to make a difference and that I just needed to surrender, place my fate in the hands of competent medical professionals and hope for the best.
Fast forward one year later, after a successful surgery and full recovery, I’ve been back at work nine months and am healthier, stronger and more mentally fit than I’ve felt in years. So, why am I telling you this? As a regular contributor to Benefits Canada, I believe there are a few lessons here that may be beneficial for employers, employees and disability management practitioners.
Lesson one — our minds and bodies are inextricably entwined and what may appear to be a mental-health issue may have an underlying medical reason and vice versa. Employees who are struggling at work or on a disability leave should be encouraged to discuss any and all mental and physical symptoms, regardless of how small, to get a full picture of what may be contributing to their symptoms. And patients really need to advocate for themselves or bring a concerned and determined family member with them to doctors’ visits to help advocate on their behalf.
Read: How are pandemic reverberations affecting disability management programs, workplace accommodations?
Lesson two — most insurers will provide both short- and long-term disability claimants with access to professional resources at no additional cost to the employee if there’s a good prognosis for return to work, but sometimes employers and their advisors may need to be proactive in obtaining these additional resources.
Lesson three — there is still a stigma associated with mental health and I experienced it first-hand. When I initially took what I believed to be a mental-health leave, I received support from my employer, friends and family. But when I was diagnosed with a brain tumour and had to take a medical leave, there was a noticeable difference in the reaction and outpouring of support I received. One could argue that my medical leave was for a very serious and potentially life-threatening issue, but mental-health issues can also be life-threatening in certain circumstances and can often be much more complex to resolve than surgery.
Rates and durations of disabilities have significantly increased, especially since the start of the pandemic and particularly related to mental health. Presumably, there are some that are suffering in silence and have yet to find a rational explanation for their symptoms. If my story helps just one person uncover the cause of their symptoms, get treatment and return to work, my goal will be achieved.
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