Teacher Told By Heart Surgeon That She Needs A ‘Career Change’ To Heal Her Health Issues — ‘He’d Never Do This Job’
“Life's too short to be unhappy. So now, I’m happy and peacefully closing that chapter.”
Fizkes / Shutterstock.com Not everyone has the freedom—financial or otherwise—to leave their toxic jobs. Whether you’re a corporate employee, a service worker, or a teacher, many people bear the burden of stress in their 9-to-5s, unaware of the consequences it has on their health and the rest of their lives.
It’s what one teacher on Reddit was forced to confront after seven years in her profession. Of course, she knew that the toxicity of her job — filled with student misbehavior, overwhelming emotional burdens, and long hours — was affecting her, but it wasn't until her heart doctor advised her to consider a lifestyle and career change that she understood the extent of the damage her job could cause.
“He literally stops and starts hearts and holds people’s lives in his actual hands,” she wrote about her doctor, “and he told me that teaching would be ‘too stressful’ for him.”
After teaching for 7 years, the middle school teacher said she was told to quit by her heart surgeon because of stress, anxiety, and health issues.
Similar to many other employees finding it difficult to balance their professional and personal lives, the fear of switching careers kept this middle school teacher stagnant in her occupation. “Each year I’d say, ‘I’m out, I’m not doing it anymore,’ but the security made me stay," she wrote. "Changing directions with bills is scary.”
It’s why over half of teachers in the profession admit they want to quit their jobs but don’t have the freedom to. Clearly, with the number of posts the Reddit forum “Teachers in Transition” houses, the profession isn’t garnering the same peaceful and motivational potential it did just a few decades ago.
Whether it’s post-pandemic consequences on students or the educational system's unfortunate failure as a whole, something has to change. Before we know it, all teachers will be forced to prioritize and safeguard their own futures, rather than shape the futures of their students.
After going to the emergency room with health issues, her doctor ultimately told her she needed a ‘lifestyle change’ to heal.
“I have always struggled [with my] mental health. Every psychologist and therapist would always say, ‘Do you know how many teachers I see?’ It’s exhausting,” she explained, sharing that she's had quite a few traumatizing experiences at the hands of her students.
But ultimately, it wasn't the trauma nor her mental issues that caused her to truly consider leaving the profession — it was their effect on her physical health.
“A few weeks ago, I started having these palpitations and an extremely high heart rate, and then I would faint,” she wrote, admitting she’s been to the emergency room several times.
“I got diagnosed with hypertension from anxiety at 30," she continued. "I asked my [doctor] what I can do, and he said, ‘Honestly, you need a lifestyle change, like a career.’ Then, our friend’s dad died … here one second and gone the next. I was like, ‘I could die here, and it would be something I regret.’”
This unfortunate reminder of life’s fragility in accompaniment with her doctor’s urgent request was a wake-up call — if she didn’t quit her job, she’d be forced to deal with a lot more than long, stressful days, misbehaving students, and the “Sunday Scaries.”
Like her, many teachers admit they’ve had to leave the profession because of overwhelming stress.
“It’s not worth the energy I spent being on guard checking emails, meetings, grades that don’t matter, being told how I’m failing when the students don’t care,” she admitted. “My relief and blood pressure are reacting, and it’s been so nice.”
After making the choice to leave her job, she admitted her most recent cardiology visit was like a breath of fresh air — “I told him I wasn’t going back and he said, ‘Yeah, that will help with less stress. I could never do that job.’”
Most teachers and ex-teachers agree that they’re not being fairly compensated, supported, or acknowledged, given all the work they do. “Teaching just isn’t worth dying over,” one person wrote in the comments. “I’m so glad you’re getting out now while you’re still young and above ground.”
“I had a laugh a few days ago. My Apple Watch registered that my pulse rate was down over the past few days,” another teacher added. “When I looked at my stats, my pulse was actually lower from the days after I had my accident that put me in the hospital … A car accident caused me less stress than teaching.”
At the end of the day, we only get the chance to live our lives once. If you have the freedom to leave a bad situation, even if it might be tough for a while, don’t ignore your gut instinct. Like this teacher, it could transform your life overnight.
Zayda Slabbekoorn is a News & Entertainment Writer at YourTango who focuses on health & wellness, social policy, and human interest stories.