When work becomes an escape
Dee’s story
People find being in work a good experience. It can help establish a routine and provide an opportunity to get to know more people. However, some people can slip into using work as an escape route.
Dee was working at a university as her carer demands increased. Her employers were supportive, but the job was demanding. Dee’s husband had a condition that could get both better and worse. The worse times were, to some extent, easier to deal with as work understood. But Dee found herself trying to play catch up in the better times and before she knew it she had become a workaholic.
To some extent she used work as an escape route and her relationships at home began to suffer.
This is good example of why it is important to maintain your relationship with the person you care for. Dee had not wanted to bother her husband with her work demands; she did not want him to feel guilty because he also needed help.
Talking openly and honestly to each other was the only way out of the situation.
