Ask a Therapist - Re-entering the Workplace

This question is from Juliette, and we're gonna be asking about workplace stress and mental health. Hi, I had a mental breakdown last month that has affected me extremely physically and mentally. I had already taken time away from work due to stress prior to this, and due to my breakdown, was unresponsive when offered to come back. Now, I'm not sure how to get back as I have asked, but they have not been very responsive. My question is how to show up for myself and for others after struggling with my mental health in a way that proves that I am capable of being at work, while also maintaining a pace that pushes me to get better without pushing me too far? Thank you, Juliette. There's something about people feeling like they have to prove something to someone else to show their worth. Let's start with, how do I work through this idea that I have to prove myself? It doesn't just stop because we're having this exchange. It takes work and time. I'm wondering if this is an opportunity to adjust your attention to: What are you trying to prove? So I'm going back to your question, is: "how to show up for myself." I'm gonna leave off "and for others," because that's not your problem. Let's just stick with: "How do I show up for myself after struggling with my mental health in a way that proves that I am capable of being at work?" Woo, I love this new question. "My question is how to show up for myself after struggling with my mental health? Also maintaining a pace that pushes me to get better without pushing me too far?" See, looky there, look how we just brought you into the picture. If you center yourself and what you need, all of the other stuff, it'll work itself out. So how do you center yourself and start to show up for yourself? What does showing up for yourself look like? I can't tell you how to show up for yourself, because the way I show up for Samantha might not work for you. This is an opportunity to really explore: How do you center yourself in your own life? And when you decide what would it look like for you to show up for yourself, then you keep that pace, you keep reminding yourself. When you start feeling your body getting tired again, your mind getting tired again, or you getting short with people or however that looks for you, take a moment, reflect, start thinking again: okay, wait a minute, I'm falling back into old habits. What do I need to show up for myself in this moment? And you just do that over and over and over and over again, because if it was someone else, you'd just keep showing up for them. Why aren't you doing it for you? I hope that this was helpful, and I really, really want to encourage...