The Government's proposal to get tough on workers pulling too many sickies, particularly on Mondays and Fridays, is enough to make some GPs want to take a permanent sickie too.

All those people requiring proof of sickness for their employers does create a picture of clogged up general practices and frazzled staff and patients.

But call it what you like - "Mondayitis", a "sickie", "Funday" (Aussies call them "doona days") - they are now a fact of life and it is difficult for employers.

Most wouldn't have the vaguest idea whether a person is really sick or not, so I guess they need some assurance, particularly if they are paying for it.

Successful "sickies" have become an art and a science for some: the employee snivelling on the phone feigning near death or suggesting they have "a vision problem" that, more accurately translated, means "I can't see myself going to work".

Yet it is estimated that more than 25 per cent of workers take "mental health days" simply to deal with stress rather than physical problems.

Even the Oxford English Dictionary says being sick can mean "being bored with something through already having had too much of it", so now's probably a good time for serious consideration of moving the hype away from including the physical sickies with mental health sickies.

"Doona days" for all

It was a GP friend of mine from Canada working as a locum who believed firmly in the need for people to take mental health days.

She took one every two months. It saved her work life and marriage.

Others I know do the same and their employers support it. They rarely get sick and believe this is based on knowing they can choose to do whatever they want to without pressure or the need for questions or a medical certificate on those particular days.

If someone spies them at a movie theatre or shopping mall in the middle of the week it doesn't matter. They all say this is keeping them healthy and that mental health days are their secret weapon to avoid getting sick at the most inopportune time.

Health practitioners are very aware that stress plays a major role in illness and that anyone even admitting they just need a break can make them anxious and depressed and judged by others.

The general practice workplace itself can be a breeding ground for stress just like any other. Prevention is something we preach but don't seem to push or practice.

Let's forget the possibility of crowded waiting rooms for now, and instead start advocating to the Government for legislation which includes mental health days - each employer offering six days a year without pay and any unused days paid back to the employee at the end of the year.

It could mean fewer sick days, more reliable employees, and fewer clogged up waiting rooms on Mondays and Fridays.

 

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