Meera’s story

After experiencing burnout, redundancy and anxiety disorder, Meera stepped away from employment to focus on her mental health. With support from Into Work, she has rebuilt her confidence and now works part-time in schools.

"Joining the Into Work weekly jobs club and monthly peer support groups had a profound effect on me. I didn’t know how much I needed it till I received it."

How burnout and redundancy impacted my mental health

Earlier in my career, I worked extensive overtime to the point of burnout and exhaustion. When I was made redundant in 2006, I’d been suppressing significant mental health symptoms, like high levels of anxiety and dissociation, believing they were something I’d simply have to cope with long-term. In hindsight, I was functioning but not truly present and my wellbeing was clearly compromised.

Following redundancy, I attempted to redirect my career by pursuing professional qualifications. Despite sustained effort and further academic study, I was unsuccessful in completing my exams. Returning to study proved more challenging than I anticipated and, at times, intensified my underlying symptoms. Eventually, I stepped back from professional and academic pursuits altogether.

During that period, writing became my coping mechanism and pathway to healing. Over time, I experienced a significant reduction in my symptoms, which enabled me to re-engage gradually with work, study and social life. However, personal loss and unresolved trauma required further adjustment, and I learned that recovery is rarely linear.

Meera

I explored various routes back into employment, including teacher training and alternative career paths. Ongoing safety concerns related to past abuse affected my confidence and ability to commute consistently, which understandably influenced my employment decisions at the time.

Throughout this journey, I continued with therapy. Gradually, I worked through symptoms, including depersonalisation and derealisation. I came to see myself not as a victim of circumstances, but as a survivor with self-determination and long-term aspirations.

Finding support through Into Work

More recently, reconnecting with my GP led to referrals for therapeutic and employment support. At a local job fair last year, I met my Into Work Employment Specialist, and decided to sign up to the programme. Through Into Work, I’ve increased my connections and linked up with local services, employment programmes and group support. All of this has helped me to steadily rebuild my confidence, social engagement and professional skills.

Joining the Into Work weekly jobs club and monthly peer support groups had a profound effect on me. I didn’t know how much I needed it till I received it. I felt like I found my niche for the first time, like I found my family.

Meera

Unlike any other employability programme, Mental Health UK provides group support. It’s been especially transformative, providing not only practical tools, but also a sense of belonging and a shared understanding that I hadn’t previously experienced.

I really don’t know where I’d be without support from my Employment Specialists and my peer group.

Looking forward to the future

While I can’t recover the years shaped primarily by survival, I can move forward with clarity.

My goal is the same as it was at the beginning of my adult life: to build independence, stability and a meaningful career. I now approach that goal with greater self-awareness, healthier boundaries, and a stronger commitment to balancing work with my personal life and wellbeing.