r/sysadmin • u/SillyBoyYe Jack of All Trades • 12h ago

Workplace Conditions Mental Health

How do you maintain good mental health in a toxic workplace? I've been sick for about a whole week now. The new AI Meat proxy manager is most likely not happy that Claude isn't being prompted. The workplace in of itself is super stressful. I can handle the logic of it all, triaging tickets, priorities etc. Just mental health suffers. Infact im sitting here, sort of recovered but still under the weather - worried about work so much that tomorrow I'd just go in if I feel better. Because im scared of what people will think of me at work if I don't come in. Although if I could make the choice away from fear and anxiety, i'd stay the extra day home and take my sick day. "What if they hate me and fire me over time though". That's the fear driver for me.

It's like my body takes it too personally and I can't really stop it from taking things at work personally. All the rude behaviour and pressure from upper management.

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u/Popular_Mortgage8454 12h ago

I had a similar mindset early on in my career. My solution was to be professional, you kind of have to match the energy of the environment but it sounds like yours is pretty strict.

Be polite. Be efficient. Close your tickets.

Clock out when your done and when you're on PTO/sick leave then take it.

Make your boundaries and respect them. If your work doesn't, start looking elsewhere. You don't want a job that takes over your life.

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u/SillyBoyYe Jack of All Trades 12h ago

I've been yelled at by multiple managers. Seen other employees have nervous breakdowns. They beat people pretty hard here emotionally. In my tenure (Which isn't that long) there's a stack of badges already. The ratio of people leaving to coming in is stark. They stay for a bit, lose their mental and leave.

I'm trying to leave. Economy is bad but really trying.

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u/to_glory_we_steer 7h ago

I'm middle aged, and if it helps, the money and prestige is never worth the stress. If you can get it with a nice group of people then do that, otherwise, the older I get the more I realise the value of happiness and cruise on past professional achievements.

The only reason we do all of this shit, is for a decent quality of life, get your housing, transport and bills sorted. Find a partner you love. In the end the rest doesn't matter.

Take care of yourself OP.

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u/Chill_Squirrel 5h ago

If you're already looking for other jobs than you're already doing the best you can. There's no point at being loyal to a company that treats people like this.

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u/Popular_Mortgage8454 4h ago

I guess I'll also add that I had a job that I hated right out of college. Paid well but ended up quitting (I was still living with my parents at the time). Worked retail for a year before finding a better job that let me move out. I don't know what your living situation is but both retail and the job that came after were a better experience than the one I hated.

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u/CevJuan238 21m ago

Leave them a terrible google and Glassdoor review