We have all experienced it. Waking up suddenly to the sound of your alarm, your head is pounding, and your throat feels like sandpaper. Nevertheless, you force yourself out of bed, and head to work, pockets stuffed with tissues and eyes squinting because the light is making your headache worse. We know that a day in bed would make us feel much better but that pressure to show up even when ill takes over and the next thing you know you’re at work, or in a lecture trying to concentrate. In the post-covid age, why do we still feel like we must show up for work and school? If we can’t look after our physical health, what does this mean for our mental health?
The culture of presenteeism, feeling like you need to be at work even when you are unwell, has been engrained in us from a young age. At school we would be praised for full attendance. There is a stigma around taking days off as people often feel as though they won’t be believed and thought to be making it up. This makes it even harder for us to feel as though we can take a day off for mental health, something that may not always physically manifest itself, but can have much worse effects. Not only this, but there is the fear of taking a day off because it would result in double the workload for later. The work and therefore pressure builds up and this can also influence mental health.
However, it can also be argued that doing work when ill can not only prolong the illness but also result in poor work. Working when unwell causes a massive strain on our bodies and will make the work you think is being done to not let it pile up, become so much more difficult. Your body will become weaker, and your brain will struggle to concentrate, so will probably take double the time to complete. There will always be ongoing work and it will be difficult, but it is more important to look after ourselves. We must fight the stigma of taking days off, whether it be for physical or mental health. By doing so, it would become more vocalised and more normal. We shouldn’t force the pressure of capitalism and working until we drop onto ourselves. It is also important to realise that we are stuck with ourselves when ill, no one else must deal with the declining health bar ourselves, and so, we must look out for ourselves before others do. Don’t wait for your boss to tell you, ‘You aren’t looking so good’ and send you home. Don’t wait until your head feels like it’s going to explode before you decide to leave your lecture. You know better than anyone else when your body needs rest, and therefore it needs to be listened to. The same attitude should be shown towards mental health as that is more difficult to tell from an outside perspective when you need a day off. If we work to look after ourselves better, the stigma over taking mental health days and sick days will hopefully diminish over time and we can become a healthier society.
Photo credit: illustration provided to The Student by Zöe Brown, used with permission.