Should I take a work leave of absence from trauma?

Need help

Hi all, Im 27F in marketing/comms. I'm trying to work through whether it would be good to take a leave right now or hurt me career wise. Sorry for the length.

In short, my physical and mental health have been a mess. My relationship is taking a major hit right now too. I'm finally addressing/recovering from traumatic loss from my parent committing suicide when I was 15. I was diagnosed with a condition three years ago that now has taken my license and made my health unstable. I didn't take any time off of my part time high school job OR school after my parent died from suicide (still shocking that I didn't?!). I went right to college after, straight into working. Never took a break. I was absolutely grinding, running on fumes with terrible coping mechanisms to get where I am in my job today.

Now, It's like I'm paying the price. I literally can't function normally and I've finally gotten really serious about addressing the trauma. I'm questioning my relationship and if i truly want to spend life with him, where I want to live, etc. Its like all the late 20s things, but add a whack of trauma.

All in all, I feel like I just finally need a REAL break to just focus on myself, and I'm almost seeing it like this is now my chance to heal that I shouldn't have gotten years ago. My company offers paid sick leave for 6 months. I do have health issues they know about yes, but truthfully I don't know if they directly impact my job. I feel super guilty about the idea of leave just to get my shit together...but I think it would actually change my life. Plus, long term, I want to move anyway and wouldn't care to stay in the job. I genuinely don't know how they would react. There's also an ongoing large project i'm on that everyone knows I DON'T want to be doing. Like REALLY don't. I worry they would think i'm just trying to get out of that. Obviously it influences my desire for leave, but it's truly not my reasoning for it.

Overall, just looking for thoughts. Do you think it's worth it? Am I making myself look bad? Does anyone have experience with a leave for mental health reasons they can share?

Posted Jul 11, 2026, 9:00 PM UTC

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