Who do you 'off load' to?

Hi

I was wondering who , if anyone you off load to at the end of a difficult day discounting office time (if you have any) for reflection?

I find that I destress en route home but sometimes if it has been a hard day I still feel I just need an ear for me to vent to/at! My partner misinterprets my frustration for stress and also just doesn't want to hear about my day as he cannot handle it. I am of course entirely confidential, don't mention names but focus on how I have felt about certain things.

I don't want to unburden myself at fellow social worker friends or family but sometimes just want a gripe!

So what is your offload method??

Hi Squirrel - I have the exact same issue.  My partner is just not interested and I am so stressed!  I try offload to other Social Workers but not too much as I am aware that they too are also stressed.  I find talking to my manager also helps - but sometimes he doesn't acknowledge seriousness of what I am saying.  Other times I just try not to think about work when at home (although this is difficult) and keep busy in other ways - which is not always healthy as work is still there.

It would be useful if there was a forum to offload about things where confidentiality could also be maintained.

Whisky.

I find that my wife is very understanding when I want to talk about things that have happened in my day - and she often makes me laugh by giving her common sense, non-social work solutions to my problems. However when I need to rant about procedural or bureaucratic issues I find I need to talk with someone who works inside the same system. I find my old course mates good for this as they are doing similar jobs but in different teams or different local authorities.

I wrote a bit about this last week. Apart from what I wrote there, I have friends in similar fields I might talk to but I find writing things down helps if there is noone I feel I can talk to (note - that is writing for private consumption only!).

Each to their own.

I just think how, compared to some people, we don't know what stress is. What if you were in a minority group in Uganda?

I know it doesn't help someone on crutches to  talk about people in wheelchairs but stress really is relative and the greater lengths one goes to to avoid it makes it a self fulfilling prophecy.

Deal with your problems as they arise, just learn to switch off at the end of the day, be that 5 or 9.30.

(I know it's easier said than done but it's as good a strategy as any and far less attention seeking.)

Yeaah!

Sorry, the

Yeaah!    was in reply to Shirack's whisky post and I posted too soon.  However, I do agree with his last post that you just have to switch off and look at what you're dealing with in the grand scheme of things and yes, it is all relative.  

 

I don't offload on anybody outside work really- luckily, my team is very supportive of each other and we help each other when necessary.

I do agree with Shirack too, in that I think it is important to try to preserve the work-life balance to deal with work stress. You have to realise and accept that there is only so much that anybody can do in a day and not expect unrealistic things of yourself (and your colleagues). If you can do this, it does help to reduce the stress and enable you to switch off when you leave work.