I put in my ADA form today. I can't do my job anymore at the pace I'm at teaching at two schools and not even a lunch break most days. I hit my breaking point last year, but chicken out. I met with two lawyers and got their okay to submit it, so I did. They said if they try to let me go we can fight them. 15 years I've been teaching more than I should per my union contract and now I need to make a change so my family doesn't lose me. Last year I had two suicide attempts in 10 months. Not acceptable for a job to lead me to that kind of stress.

Good for you for standing up for yourself. You need to be getting scheduled breaks. It’s disgusting that teachers have to deal with that. For everyone who doesn’t know ADA is the Americans with Disabilities Act and we can ask for reasonable accommodations from our employer so that we can do our job because OCD is considered a disability.

I’m so sorry that you’re employer doesn’t believe in giving you the breaks you deserve. A job should not stress you to the point of suicide. That’s terrible. I told my boss about my OCD because she criticized me for being too “panicked” about a certain unexpected/stressful situation at work (I am a social work supervisor so stress is part of the job but this situation was over the top and honestly uncalled for). Anyway, her response was that if I have OCD, I should have performed the task better because I would’ve paid closer attention to detail. I was so angry she would stereotype me like that! Anyway, I decided not to make any formal complaint about that comment but now that I’ve disclosed the disability, I know I’ll have some recourse if they make any further comments or try to penalize me for something directly related to the OCD. It’s terrible to have to think of things that way, but we need to stand up for and protect ourselves. We have rights.

@justbee you are SO brave. My ADA is requesting for me to go part time. Regardless of my OCD, my job is expecting too much from one person. I'm in constant fight or flight mode and it's so bad on my physical health. Financially this will turn us upside down, but I'd rather be poor than no longer on earth. You are so brave for quitting. I want to, but my husband doesn't have insurance. I keep applying for other jobs, but no luck yet. I really wanted to work at The Disney Store lol

I am so proud of you. I am/was a teacher for two years. It was so bad that I had to quit. I barely made it to the end of the school year Alive. My principal was a dick and was not helpful or accommodating. They even refused my request off to go to the psychiatrist I had waited months to get in to. Now I have a part time gymnastics coaching job and my husband thankfully found a better job, and we moved from a house to apartment so I can be home to heal. It has been so hard to not be hard on myself - I miss my students so much.

@AmyGirl, try to look at going part time as an opportunity to explore something you’ve always wanted to do, as opposed to doing something out of necessity. I often will daydream about what career/lifestyle I would have chosen if I didn’t need to rely on my current income. I’m hopeful that, some day, I will be able to explore some of those avenues.