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Working Through A Personal Crisis
Working Through A Personal Crisis
STRESS
by Sabina Nawaz
July 06, 2020
huzu1959/Getty Images
One day amid a flourishing career, you might find your personal life in crisis
and threatening to upend your professional life. If so, you’re not alone.
Just before boarding a flight from Boston to London to meet with a major client,
Anique received a call from her 10-year-old daughter Jasmine, not to wish her
bon voyage but overcome in the throes of a panic attack. This initiated an 18-
month journey through Jasmine’s struggles with acute anxiety.
Rhonda, a senior manager and thought leader in her field, remembers two life-
altering conversations she had in a single week: “One with the minister and my
parents on how to conduct my mother’s impending memorial service. The other
was a meeting with my son and his psychiatrist about how to have a plan for
when he is suicidal.”
Some individuals want to openly discuss issues such as mental illness to help
bust the stigma that accompanies these widespread struggles. However, when
one of our loved ones is suffering, we must also consider their privacy. What’s
more, revealing a child’s condition might make colleagues think we’re going to
be less reliable, distracted from work, and unable to put in the hours. We also
want to be mindful that sharing an ongoing issue is different from revealing our
past. Raw and evolving emotions can elicit awkwardness from others who may
resort to giving us unsolicited special treatment. Some confidences are best
shared only with our closest coworkers, those who will notice changes in our
performance and may need to understand and provide accommodations.
Managers have additional considerations. As Rhonda said, “I think there can be
a danger of oversharing, especially as a boss.” Less specificity, such as, “Thank
you for asking, I’ll share more later,” can work for others.
Follow similar guidelines at home when you decide what to disclose.
Communicating with children merits special consideration. Aside from obvious
factors such as your children’s ages, first discuss choices with your partner and
start with values you both embrace. We learned of my husband’s brother’s death
after our kids were asleep. We agreed to wait until morning when I would share
the news with them. We wanted to be transparent with our children about what
happened and to give them space to mourn their loss. Because I delivered the
news, they didn’t feel pressure to console their dad before processing their own
emotions.
Many have told me that working helped during a serious challenge if they could
set boundaries to address immediate needs and their emotional wellbeing.
According to Rhonda, “Work was an opportunity to control things when lots
was going on that I couldn’t control. Work had an accomplishable side to it.” If
you need time off from work, whether to care for someone else or for your own
health, make a clear request and you will often get what you ask for. “Nobody
ever questioned when I needed time to be with my family, which was my
biggest ask,” Natalya said.
Take Care of Yourself Every Day
Absolutely non-negotiable during a crisis is allowing time for daily self-care. We
might compromise on the duration but never the occurrence of our rituals.
Time spent could be reduced to as little as 10 minutes if necessary or, if we’re
confronted with a situation likely to trigger more trauma, extra time might be
needed. Derek shared, “When I go to big events where it’s part of my job to
entertain, self-care is even more important. I run each morning and block off an
hour each afternoon where I sit and reflect so I can go back refreshed.” Self-care
encompasses many pursuits: meditation, journaling, playing the guitar, physical
exercise, etc. Natalya’s approach has been to “create space to have mental
breathing room so that you can see yourself in what you are doing, and how you
are doing it,” she said. Another client, who became a dumbbell devotee after his
cancer treatments, said, “You have to get physically strong to be work-strong.”
Managers leaned more heavily on their teams, leading to both sides benefiting.
As one client who took on an expanded role at home said, “Continuity for the
kids was a guiding principle. My staff is a lot more capable than they used to be.
I’m sure me stepping out created a vacuum and others stepped into it. I’ve even
been promoted.”
What lies on the other side of a family crisis? Some hardships pass, some
become part of our new normal, and many bring us to a better place than
before. Most of my clients who have gone through these rough patches say this
is the healthiest they’ve been, others have been promoted at work, and several
believe their relationships are stronger than ever. Once they’re no longer in the
clutches of these challenges, they pay it forward; through small acts of kindness,
mentorship and sponsorship, or simply showing up to listen, without judgment.
“The more we recognize that the people we’re working with all have to deal
with these things from time to time,” Rhonda shared, “the more compassionate
it makes us, the more humane the workplace becomes.”
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