LOW DUE TO ANXIETY: WHEN TO ASK FOR IT AND WHERE TO GO - ARTE - 2025

The low anxiety are one of the main reasons why an individual has to put aside their job functions. For example, in Spain, psychiatric diseases are the second cause of proceptual sick leave and the first cause of prolonged sick leave in absolute terms.

Anxious symptomatology can cause, in some cases, some controversy when deciding whether to motivate the request for sick leave or not. In fact, as with most psychiatric disorders, there is currently a notable social rejection about sick leave due to anxiety problems.

This is not to say that anxiety cannot justify sick leave in many cases. Anxiety disorders today have reliable diagnoses and well-documented psychopathologies.

This article reviews the properties of sick leave due to anxiety and discusses how and where to go to manage them.

What is an anxiety leave?

The sick leave due to anxiety present the same criteria as the rest of the sick leave. That is, the suffering of a condition or a pathology that is incompatible with the performance of work activity.

This first assessment is important since, often, sick leave due to anxiety is linked to more or less premeditated internal factors.

In fact, sick leave due to anxiety can be rejected by several individuals in an erroneous way, by relating psychological alterations to people's wills or characteristic attributes.

When an anxiety leave is granted, the person presents a psychological condition that is pathological and that prevents them from performing work tasks properly.

Thus, anxiety problems as well as any other type of psychopathological alteration must be interpreted in the same way as physical illnesses are interpreted, with regard to sick leave.

When a medical professional determines that a person requires a period of sick leave and rest, they use the same criteria whether it is a physical condition or a psychological condition.

Where should you go?

Another element that usually generates some controversy about leave due to anxiety consists of the processes that must be carried out to process it. Do I have to go to a specialist? Do you have to make an appointment with a psychiatrist or psychologist? Who can process an anxiety leave?

As mentioned above, psychological conditions follow the same course as physical pathologies with regard to sick leave. For this reason, when detecting important symptoms of anxiety, it is advisable to go to the family doctor.

The medical professional will carry out a first examination and will determine, through the results of the evaluations, the appropriateness of a sick leave.

Subsequently, if he deems it appropriate, the GP can determine the referral to the psychiatric service, both to carry out a more detailed evaluation of the disorder, and to initiate a treatment plan.

Likewise, in some cases the family doctor may consider referral to the psychology service to deepen the intervention and initiate psychological treatment.

The referral to the psychology service does not depend on the accomplishment of visits to the psychiatrist or the performance of a pharmacological intervention.

When should anxiety leave be requested?

The basic requirement to raise the request for an anxiety leave is the experience of intense anxiety signs and symptoms.

Faced with the suffering of a high anxiety state, it is advisable to go to the medical services to perform an assessment of the state and initiate some type of intervention if appropriate.

Likewise, another important factor in requesting leave due to anxiety is the repercussion both on a personal and professional level that anxiety symptoms generate.

When these have a negative impact on the quality of life of the person and their work performance, it is convenient to process the sick leave.

When are anxiety leave granted?

The determination to process an anxiety leave, as with any other type of pathology, whether physical or mental, is always made by a medical professional.

In this sense, the assessment of the family doctor, as well as the medical professionals of the referrals made if deemed appropriate, is the element that determines the processing of a leave due to anxiety.

There are a series of factors that, in general, tend to point to the need for sick leave. Although these elements may be useful as a guide, the final assessment in each case must be carried out by the corresponding medical professional.

Suffering from an anxiety disorder

At present, anxiety disorders are well documented and have a wide variety of diagnostic entities that allow establishing the presence of psychopathology.

In this sense, the diagnosis of an anxiety disorder usually motivates the processing of sick leave. The relationship between both terms is not always linear and may be subject to variations determined by the medical professional.

The main anxiety disorders that can motivate the processing of sick leave are: obsessive compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, specific phobia (especially when the phobic element is related to some work aspect), panic attack with or without agoraphobia and generalized anxiety disorder.

Significant interference with the subject's life

Despite the fact that many of the anxiety disorders can be included within an anxiety disorder, not all anxiety symptoms have a specific diagnosis.

For this reason, beyond the diagnosis made, one of the key elements for processing a sick leave due to anxiety lies in the effects that anxiety symptoms cause on the life of the subject.

In general, when the manifestations of anxiety interfere markedly with the normal routine of the individual, with their work or social relationships, or produce clinically significant discomfort, sick leave is usually motivated.

References

1. Assessment of disabilities and bodily harm. International Disability Scale. Author Louis Melennec. Ed. Masson-2000.
2. Manual of differential diagnosis and treatment in Psychiatry by Julio Vallejo Ruiloba. Ed Masson-2001.
3. Informed consent in Psychiatry of Jesus Sanchez Caro. Medical - 2003. Ediciones Diaz de Santos.
4. Introduction to Psychopathology and Psychiatry. J Vallejo Ruiloba. Masson. 6th edition.
5. Harrison, Principles of Internal Medicine. 16th Edition. Mac Graw Hill.