Hi Greenshade!

Thank you for sharing! It makes sense that it was easier to set boundaries and manage the work stress when it was on limited days.

Hi PuChop!

I’m sorry to hear that you’re under a lot of stress and that your mood has been up and down. Your concerns are understandable.

Can you describe your ideal vacation? Perhaps you can’t go on that vacation right now. But maybe you can bring small pieces of it into your life now.

Hi Nichole!

I’m sorry to hear about your online dating troubles! Personally, I don’t like online dating. Have you considered speed dating or joining a hobby or social group?

I enjoy being friends with people so I have an understanding of their personality before considering dating them.

Hi Greenshade!

It has been a pleasure speaking with you!

Awh, thanks! No, it has been more like my personal agenda than an organizational priority. I think I could still collaborate with my future colleagues in the future though to work on this if I were to leave things on a  good enough note.

If it is up to you, I am confident that you would  manage to leave on a good note. This idea of collaborating with colleagues to continue to achieve your personal goals sounds like a good plan.

“Yes, I do communicate this stuff. They still get angry. Yes, thank you for the reminder!”

It’s unfortunate that your manager doesn’t have better control over their behaviour. I’m sorry that you have to deal with their emotional outbursts. This definitely sounds like a stressful work environment. Well done for coping with the stress for so long! But you do deserve better.

I have been in a similar situation myself and honestly, I was relieved to finally walk away from that environment. I have been very lucky because the environment in my most recent job has been entirely different. It’s a breath of fresh air when coworkers are professional, kind and supportive.

Oh, I don’t know if this will be helpful, but how I managed my anxiety at the poor work environment was by understanding that these people are behaving in this way not because of me or anyone else. But because of poor coping mechanisms. They do not have healthy skill sets that allow them to cope with stressors.

I have a couple of questions. Before the more recent role you worked there in a previous role. How was your anxiety then? How did you cope then?

• This reply was modified 2 years, 6 months ago by Helcat.

Some people give their dog to relatives to mind throughout the day. Flexible ownership is becoming more popular too, where more than one household owns a dog.

Hi Dani!

My first thought is that your partner is abusive. How he is treating you is very wrong and it’s nothing to do with his depression. Depressed people don’t inherently perform these behaviours, it is not a symptom. Please don’t tolerate this kind of behaviour out of empathy.

You’re right. The truth is that people don’t just stop loving each other overnight.

To me, it seems like he has been trying to break up with you for a while but he has been a coward because he likes the comfort you provide. You deserve better! I’m so sorry he’s said all of these hurtful things and has been treating you in this way.